Rodri warns Arsenal with Haaland prediction as Premier League title race hots up

04 February 2023 , 22:30

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Rodri warns Arsenal with Haaland prediction as Premier League title race hots up

Manchester City midfielder Rodri reckons Erling Haaland has proved he will be good for at least a goal every game in the title run-in.

Rodri is backing the Blues to show the mentality that has seen four of the last five Premier Leagues go to the Etihad in their battle with leaders Arsenal.

And he reckons Norwegian Haaland can give them the edge over the Gunners thanks to a strike-rate that has seen him score 25 goals in just 19 league appearances and 31 in all competitions. Rodri said: “We feel like we have a weapon to fear the opponents.

“Of course, we have switched different things to the way we used to play before, before we didn’t have this weapon and now he is always a guarantee of scoring goals - and I think he can score more than one goal in every game.

“At the end, we have the experience and we know that this is very normal. We know the level of the league and that every game is a final.

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“We just keep calm, try to go on our road and don’t look too much at our opponents. We will just focus on ourselves. When you play with pressure in this sense, you play with more desire because you know that you cannot drop or fail.

“Trying to be consistent every three days, knowing you are going to be tired and there are going to be moments where you have to run, deal with the pressure, suffer sometimes. This is the mentality of champions.”

Erling Haaland already has 25 goals in the Premier League this season (AFP via Getty Images)

City face Tottenham less than a month after being forced to show their quality by coming back from two goals down to beat Antonio Conte’s side 4-2.

Rodri feels the battle between Haaland and Spurs captain Harry Kane is a duel between the two best strikers in England. He said: “I think (Haaland and Kane) are the two greatest strikers in the Premier League right now.

“Kane is a top player, a great player. He has been at the highest level for 10 years in my opinion. I just enjoy watching him because he understands the game in the same way. Not only scoring goals, but trying to improve the game for the team, dropping deep in situations. He is a very clever player.”

Simon Mullock