Virgil van Dijk makes Erling Haaland admission ahead of Liverpool vs Man City

Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk has admitted that Manchester City's Erling Haaland "has caused him problems" but he believes he's held his own in their encounters.

Haaland and his team are set to play at Anfield this Sunday, hoping to make a mark in the Premier League title race. Last season, City lost at Anfield due to a goal by Mohamed Salah.

In that match, Liverpool managed to prevent City and Haaland from scoring - a rare achievement. Haaland did score at Anfield in the Champions League during his time at Red Bull Salzburg and he's scored twice in his four matches against Liverpool with City. Van Dijk played a crucial role in stopping Haaland and is ready for their next face-off.

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He said: "Of course. I've caused him problems, he's caused me problems that's how it works. These battles are always tough. But like I said I think he is looking forward to it and I'm looking forward to it."

Last season, Haaland didn't score on his City debut in a Community Shield defeat to Liverpool and also failed to score in their first league meeting. However, he did score in a 3-2 Carabao Cup victory in December 2022 and in the 1-1 draw between the two teams at the Etihad earlier this season, reports the Mirror.

Van Dijk first came across Haaland though when he was at Salzburg in 2019 with the Reds winning 4-3 at Anfield. Jan Age Fjortoft, the ex-player turned pundit, commented that the defender seemed angered when he interviewed him about the young forward.

Fjortoft previously told the Blood Red podcast: "After the game, I interviewed Van Dijk, who I always like to interview because he is a gentleman, and I said 'I have to ask you about the Norwegian, Erling Haland' and he just said: 'Well, we won the game'. So I said 'Yes, but what do you think about him? '".

"Van Dijk said: 'I didn't see a lot of him' and he was a bit angry because there was some mistakes done and I said 'It's a good sign for a striker when a defender says he didn't see him! ' - and then he just went away."

Haaland himself looks to have stoked the fire between City and Liverpool as he responded to comments made by Trent Alexander-Arnold, who claimed that Liverpool's trophies mean more than City's because of the financial difference between the two outings.

Haaland hit back by saying: "I've been here one year and won the Treble and it was quite a nice feeling, I do not think he knows exactly this feeling. So yeah, that is what I felt last season and it was quite nice."