How Man City defenders are trying to stop Erling Haaland in training

Erling Haaland's lack of a weakness in his game as a centre-forward makes him difficult to handle for a defender, according to his Manchester City teammate Nathan Ake.

The Dutch international sees plenty of his colleague in training and is yet to find a weak spot in the 22-year-old's game, despite getting plenty of practice against him. Haaland has started every City game so far this season, plundering 20 goals in 13 appearances, and he's already tearing up the record books for the club and in the Premier League.

Given City's intense schedule before the World Cup, Haaland doesn't go flat-out in training. But Ake has seen enough to realise just how hard he is to contain.

"It’s a good challenge, now training is a little bit less intense because there are so many matches. It’s always a good test, he’s strong, he’s fast, he can come in two feet and also run in behind, and it’s difficult to mark him," he said.

"For us it’s good as defenders to see the way he plays and when we have the ball how he wants to get the ball, but also in training against him as well to make sure you do well.

"He’s always in the right position. He’s got so many different attributes, sometimes a player is strong and maybe not so fast, but he’s got everything."

Haaland is a lethal finisher with both feet, but his movement is one of the strengths of his game, continually confounding defenders with clever runs to find space inside the penalty area.

"It’s difficult because he has very good movement, he runs off the second defender sometimes, but then other times he comes to the ball and you think ‘should I go close or leave him because he might run in behind again’," he said.

"He gives different options and that’s very dangerous about his game, that helps us a lot for sure."

Ake revealed that Haaland shows his competitive instincts in training no matter what the drill is, but it's his all-round game that is making him such a dangerous striker.

He added: "I think he’s got all the attributes. Sometimes you play with strikers who have a few very good attributes where they’re very good at, but this guy has everything. Left foot, right foot, goal scorer, fast and strong but also good with his feet, and outside of that a very nice guy as well. For me he has it all."