Barnes would ‘put house’ on Erling Haaland not scoring vs Van Dijk and Liverpool

John Barnes says he would bet against Erling Haaland scoring for Manchester City against Liverpool on Sunday.

Haaland has scored in all but one of his 12 games for City since his £54m move from Borussia Dortmund, notching 20 in total.

The Norway international was rested for City’s 0-0 draw with Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday but will return as the champions take on Liverpool at Anfield this weekend.

City and Liverpool have gone toe-to-toe in the title race in three of the last four seasons but Jurgen Klopp’s side have fallen off a cliff this term and have won just two of their last eight Premier League games.

Virgil van Dijk, who’s been arguably the best Premier League defender in the last five years or so, hasn’t been immune to criticism in recent weeks, but Barnes reckons he will prove too big a challenge for Haaland on Sunday.

Asked if the striker will continue his incredible goalscoring streak, Barnes told BonusCodeBets: “Who knows. He might score, he might not. Haaland is a very dangerous player but Van Dijk is a fantastic player.

“If I went to the bookies and had to put my house on it then I’d say no. Liverpool need to defend much better than they have. ”

Barnes was also asked about the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who’s received perhaps the most grief over his displays this season.

“He’s not any worse than he was before,” Barnes said. He is used to how Liverpool plays from an attacking perspective.

“Trent’s not all of a sudden going to be the best defender in the world but he’s also not the worst defender in the world.

“He isn’t playing in a way that he’s protecting Van Dijk or the rest of the back four.

“Now that teams are scoring goals against Liverpool, it’s not all Trents fault or the defenders fault.

“The team has to get used to the way they used to defend as a team.”

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