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Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison has highlighted what Bournemouth should have done to stop Erling Haaland during their 3-1 loss to Manchester City on Sunday. During the Premier League clash at Etihad, Haaland was at the peak of his powers and scored twice to help City move into second-place in the table.
The Norwegian marksman has now scored 17 goals in 13 appearances across all competitions for City this season. He is also leading the race for the Golden Boot in the Premier League with 13 goals - six more than Igor Thiago, Danny Welbeck, Antoine Semenyo and Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Amid Haaland's incredible run of form, Hutchison has offered his stance on how teams can try to stop him in games. The former Scotland international believes that Haaland is phenomenal, but says teams should change their approach while facing him.
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Hutchison claimed that Bournemouth should have tried to sit deep and play low block to stifle Haaland. He said on ESPN FC:
“How on earth do you stop him? Well, you don’t play a high line, that’s obvious. Bournemouth deserve a lot of credit for how they try to approach the game, there’s a reason why they’ve beaten Tottenham, Brighton, they are a high pressing side, they try to play on the halfway line. But when you’re playing Erling Haaland, you’ve got to drop that little bit deeper, go into a sort of low block if you can. It’s not really Bournemouth’s style, so I get why they didn’t approach the game like that.
Despite offering his opinion on stopping Haaland, Hutchison went on to admit that when the 25-year-old striker goes through on goal, he's almost always unstoppable:
“But this guy is just phenomenal. Some strikers get one on one with the goalkeeper and you think, ‘no, don’t fancy him’. But as soon as Haaland goes through, you just think, ‘yep, inevitable’. He could have got a lot more, the guy is just a phenomenon.”
Notably, Haaland has scored 12 goals in six 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying games for Norway, who are now closing in on a first appearance at the tournament since 1998.
"Of course, he's that level" - Guardiola compares Erling Haaland to Ronaldo and Messi
Pep Guardiola has waxed lyrical about Erling Haaland after the latter's heroics in the win over Bournemouth. The City head coach went as far as to claim that Haaland is currently performing at the level of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, Guardiola touched upon the fact that Messi and Ronaldo ended up operating at this incredible level for many years, tipping the hat to their longevity, which Haaland has yet to achieve.
He told City's website:
"This is what it’s like if you play with Messi or Ronaldo, his influence is so big. "You see the numbers of that guy? Of course, he’s that level. Messi and Ronaldo have done it for 15 years, but this is the level."
Guardiola and Erling Haaland next face Dortumd in the Champions League on Wednesday, before their highly-anticipated Premier League showdown with Liverpool at the weekend.
