Manchester City star Erling Haaland warmed up for this weekend’s Manchester derby in solid fashion with five goals in Norway’s rout of Moldova.
The first derby of the weekend will take place on Saturday afternoon when Haaland’s Manchester City host Ruben Amorim‘s United as both look to build on indifferent starts to the new season.
While United continue to struggle with four points to their names from their three games, City are in fact below them with just the three points, having beaten Wolves on the opening day but then losing to Tottenham and Brighton.
The sides’ starts have resulted in this weekend’s game being a big match for both, and both sets of fans will have had an eye on how their stars have been getting on during the international break.
And it is City’s fans who will have been the most enthused. Their man man has scored three Premier League goals so far this season, and bagged five times in Norway’s 11-1 win over Moldova on Tuesday night.
It means the striker, who also picked up two assists, will be taking plenty of encouragement into the weekend’s game as he looks to at least keep up his own form to help his side get back on track in their hunt for the title.
Erling Haaland scored five goals for Norway in their 11-1 win over Moldova on Tuesday night
He also picked up two assists, with Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard on the scoresheet too
One man, though, that could have a say in that title race, was also in good form. That man is Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, who also scored and picked up two assists.
The midfielder set up Haaland’s second and third goals, playing his role in the continuation of the duo’s impressive partnership at international level. This game, though, was about the City man.
After Felix Horn Myhre opened the scoring, assisted by Haaland, the 25-year-old took things into his own hands with a stunning first half hat-trick.
Two of those goals were set up by Odegaard as Norway led 5-0 at the break, with the midfielder scoring the fifth of the game.
Haaland continued where he left off in the second half, too. He scored the sixth and 10th of Norway’s goals, with the only blotch on their record the 78th minute own goal from Leo Ostigard.
In terms of their defensive efforts, United have again had a mixed time of things this campaign, but are yet to keep a clean sheet. After losing 1-0 against Arsenal on the opening day, they drew 1-1 with Fulham a week later and beat Burnley 3-2 in their final match before the international break.
Amroim will again line up with back three to try and combat Haaland, with Leny Yoro, Matthijs De Ligt and Luke Shaw the likely three central defenders that will play.
The game came a day after Haaland poked fun at his new injury after being left needing stitches when he was struck in the face by Norway’s team bus.
Ruben Amorim will be tasked with trying to stop Haaland in the first Manchester derby of the season on Sunday
Haaland poked fun at an injury after being left needing stitches when he was struck in the face by Norway’s team bus
The Manchester City striker posted a fresh photo on Monday morning showing his swollen bottom lip, taped underneath, with the caption: ‘Good morning’ and a thumbs up emoji.
The snap came a day after he revealed the cut that required treatment following a freak accident at Norway’s team hotel in Oslo.
Haaland was caught in the face when the bus trunk door flew open as he stood nearby, leaving him with a nasty gash that needed three stitches.
The striker chose to laugh the incident off, writing on Snapchat after receiving treatment: ‘Just got banged out by a bus door. 3 stitches.’
