Wayne Rooney names the only Arsenal player who can stop Erling Haaland
According to Wayne Rooney, there is just one player from Arsenal who has the ability to prevent Erling Haaland, the striker from Manchester City, in case of a decisive match at the Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland has had an impressive debut season at Manchester City, scoring 48 goals across various competitions and aiding the team in pursuing a rare treble under Pep Guardiola’s guidance.
Manchester City can secure the title by winning their remaining matches, enabling them to surpass the current Premier League leaders, Arsenal. Additionally, they have progressed to the advanced stages of both the FA Cup and Champions League.
Wednesday’s match against Arsenal at the Etihad is expected to be a significant moment in the title race. Wayne Rooney believes that the only Arsenal player capable of keeping up with Haaland’s pace and strength is currently unavailable due to injury.
The former Manchester United and England striker told The Times: “How do they stop Erling Haaland? With William Saliba injured, there’s no prospect of matching his pace and power individually, and the only way is to go out and try to impose their own game.
“City can be vulnerable when you hit them in the transition and you saw it against Bayern Munich, particularly when Leroy Sane should have scored after Bayern won possession and broke on them.
“These are the opportunities you can get against City, and Arsenal have the players to capitalise in a way that Bayern didn’t — the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus.
“Arsenal should focus on how to expose those City defenders rather than focus too much on Haaland. The mindset needs to be: nobody thought we’d be here, and now we’re playing for the title – so let’s go and take it.
“If they go with that positive approach, it’ll be a great game. If they sit back and wait? Do that against City and you die a slow death.
“City are exceptional and cannot be contained, so it’s about what they can do in attack themselves, and about having no regrets.”
Despite leading the table for a significant portion of the season, Arsenal, who have not won the Premier League since 2004, face the possibility of collapsing during the run-in.
Mikel Arteta’s team squandered two-goal leads in back-to-back matches against Liverpool and West Ham, followed by dropping crucial points in a tense 3-3 draw with last-placed Southampton.
Rooney added: “Arsenal have surpassed everyone’s expectations to get themselves into a position where if they win their remaining six matches, they will be champions. But drawing their past three games is a serious blow.
“Recently, I heard Gary Neville say that if, at the start of the season, you offered Arsenal the scenario of “win one game at City and you’ll be favourites to win the league” they’d have taken it.
“But I think because of what has happened in the past few games, it won’t feel like that. If they’re not champions, they’ll feel like they’ve thrown the title away.
‘Their draw against Liverpool was fine – a point is always a decent result at Anfield – but failing to beat West Ham and Southampton could haunt them.
“Whatever happens from here, though, I’ve been impressed with them. They’ve had a great season and have some really good young players and the experience of this title race will help those players massively over the seasons to come.”
Wayne Rooney names the only Arsenal player who can stop Erling Haaland
