Paddy Pimblett has said he is ‘doubling down’ on his claim that Darwin Nunez will outscore Erling Haaland next season following Liverpool’s Community Shield win over Manchester City.
The Reds came out on top in the traditional curtain-raiser at Wembley last weekend, beating Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions 3-1 with Nunez scoring the third and final goal. Talk around the game was dominated by comparisons between the two clubs' big-money arrivals, but it was the Uruguayan that got an early upper-hand while City’s £51million-man struggled.
That narrative of Nunez vs Haaland will litter media coverage for the next nine months, and with the two Premier League titans running so close again last season - Liverpool lost out by one point - a superior No.9 could be the difference between agony and ecstasy come May.
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And UFC star Paddy ‘the Baddy’ Pimblett has backed Reds forward Nunez to carry his Community Shield momentum forward and pip Haaland to the Golden Boot. He also managed to squeeze in a cheeky dig at Manchester United fans while describing his feelings towards what he called a ‘glorified friendly’.
“Beating City is great, no matter what you want to beat City,” Pimblett told Sky Sports. “But for me the Charity Shield means nothing. It’s a glorified friendly. It goes to penalties after 90 minutes. People who count that as a trophy actually annoy me. It's not a trophy, it's a shield.
“Manchester United fans try to include it when you do a trophy count but the Charity Shield doesn't count. It's a friendly.
On his prediction earlier this year that Nunez will outscore Haaland, He added: “Yeah I’m doubling down. He's going to try and not miss a single game Nunez, but Haaland will be injured for half the season.
“I think City are going to realise they've messed up a bit by selling Sterling and Jesus. They've brought Haaland and Alvarez, but he didn't look that good the other day - he’s probably going to end up being proper heavy now because I’ve just said that.”
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