Erling Haaland excited for duel with 'monster' Virgil van Dijk at Anfield

Erling Haaland is relishing the prospect of going toe-to-toe with the "unreal" Virgil van Dijk when Manchester City visit Liverpool on Sunday. 

The Reds are currently sat a point ahead of Man City as both sides vie with Arsenal for this season's Premier League title, placing even more significance on the outcome of Sunday's showdown.

Liverpool will need to be at their absolute best to walk away with three points against the current world champions and stopping Erling Haaland will be of paramount importance.

It will be the responsibility of Virgil van Dijk to keep last season's Premier League top scorer quiet, especially with Ibrahima Konate potentially missing out on the weekend due to injury.

Haaland was quick to heap praise on Van Dijk ahead of the meeting between two of Europe's elite, hailing the centre-back as a "monster".

"He's the main guy in Liverpool," said the Man City forward. "I've said it for many years, he's unreal, and I also heard he's a real nice guy, so that helps.

"He's a monster, and I like to play against players like him because then you really test yourself. It's going to be a nice game."

Haaland has certainly enjoyed some good duels with Van Dijk in the past, with the pair having shared the field on five occasions in the past.

In those matches, Haaland has scored twice - once for Man City and once for RB Salzburg - while Van Dijk has kept two clean sheets.

Van Dijk put in an incredibly impressive defensive display up against the Norwegian during a 1-0 Liverpool victory at Anfield last season, with the Dutchman hopeful of a similarly effective performance against him on Sunday.

The Liverpool skipper was recently named the club's February Player of the Month after some dazzling displays last month, including scoring the winning goal in the Carabao Cup final.