Erling Haaland may be tormenting Premier League defences but Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers hopes Manchester City goal machine is fit to face his side this weekend. City looked to have been given a big boost when the Norwegian came off at half-time in Man City’s stalemate with Borussia Dortmund in midweek, a foot problem making the Premier League’s top scorer a doubt for Saturday’s match at the King Power Stadium. But Rodgers hopes he will overcome the issue in time. The City manager wants his players to test themselves against the best in the division, and he insists Haaland is that, describing it as a privilege for the Premier League that his development will take place in England. If he is fit, he will look to add to the 17 goals he has scored in 11 league matches so far this term.
Brendan Rodgers said: “I hope he plays. You want to see the best players. The beauty in the Premier League is we have a chance to see a genuine world-class player grow and progress his talent on our shores. He’s a brilliant player. I love everything about his game. He’s 22. Everyone can see the talent. He’s a natural goalscorer, but he clearly works on it as well. He never wastes a run. He always makes the right runs, even if the ball doesn’t always come. The biggest thing for me is his hunger and the effort he puts in to be the best player he can be. I read somewhere a few years back that he thought he needed to get stronger, so he put on 10kg of muscle. You don’t do that by not working hard. He’s clearly a young player who works on his game. He’s blessed with incredible physicality but he looks like he has the hunger to be the very best he can be. Over this next decade it will be great to follow him. I hope he plays, it will be great to measure ourselves against top talents, and he is one.”
If Haaland does play, City’s job is then to shut him down. Only two of the 11 clubs he has faced in the Premier League have managed to keep him off the scoresheet so far: Bournemouth and Liverpool. But the other issue City have is that too much focus on Haaland could see any of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, or a catalogue of others given the space and time to shine.
Brendan Rodgers added: “When he has space, he’s really effective. His runs, his movement and his hunger to score goals is very clear. But they have more than one player. They have lots of world-class talents, so we have to be together as a team and defend well as a team. But it’s also when you have the ball. We have to use the ball well and exploit the spaces.”
