Man City icon makes Virgil van Dijk prediction as Liverpool FC ace prepares for Erling Haaland

Manchester City icon Shaun Goater believes that Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk will be relishing the thought of battling with Erling Haaland on Sunday.

City travel to Anfield in high spirits thanks to their solid start to the season. The Blues have not lost in either the Premier League or Champions League so far this campaign and are riding high in second position.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have struggled to find victories in the English top flight having only won two matches in the league. Their two defeats to Manchester United and Arsenal have contributed to them sitting 10th ahead of Sunday's clash.

Despite Haaland being in the form of his life for the Blues at present, Goater believes that Van Dijk will be hoping to show what he is made of at Anfield. "Virgil van Dijk is not quite at his best at the moment but if you love the game, you want to see the two best players facing up to each other," he explained to the Man City official website.

"You want to see the great teams facing each other when they’re both in form. But I think it’s one of those games where Virgil van Dijk himself, no matter what form he’s in, he wants to be raising his bar back to his best to say 'today, Haaland ain’t scoring. City ain’t scoring'. He will be up for that.

"But at the same time, Haaland will be thinking 'it’s about time they know about me, in terms of if they don’t already know, they’re going to know'.

"So I think it’s a beautiful game to be watching and seeing who comes out on top. I think Haaland himself has said that Virgil van Dijk is one of the toughest defenders he’s played against. The two of them will try to get the best of each other."