Darwin Núñez and Erling Haaland can share 'biggest dream'

Darwin Núñez and Erling Haaland are similar, according to Virgil van Dijk. The Liverpool centre-back has played against both, and he believes they possess comparable skill sets.

"Very direct, quick, tall and strong," he said when describing the pair in a conversation with Rio Ferdinand. He labelled them as a 'new type' of striker when outing the toughest opponents he's faced throughout his career.

So far, Haaland has exploded in the Premier League. The Norwegian already has 11 goals from just 571 minutes on the field, finding the net roughly every 52 minutes across his seven appearances.

At his current rate, the 22 year-old would break Mohamed Salah's Premier League record for most goals in a single season, with the Egyptian scoring 32 times in his debut campaign for the Reds in 2017/18.

Unlike Salah, Haaland has been inclined to put the ball in the net for Manchester City without doing anything else across other departments.

He is a marksman through and through, demonstrating a tendency to stay away from possession until he's required to convert shots into goals. He is a passenger in possession, but a killer in the penalty box.

In fact, Haaland is averaging just 13.2 touches per goal this term, which is daft in comparison to the next-best player with more than one goal to his name: Callum Wilson on 28.5 touches per goal.

Speaking to beIN SPORTS after his last outing in the Champions League, he said: "People might talk about that I don't touch the ball, but my dream is to touch the ball five times and score five goals. That's my biggest dream."

Núñez hasn't quite experienced the same fortunes at Anfield yet, scoring one goal from 175 minutes in the Premier League, with his minutes restricted by the red card suffered against Crystal Palace.

When the Uruguayan striker has been involved, he's been a threat and proved to be capable at hoovering up opportunities to score, but also looked a little uncomfortable when linking with others in deeper areas.

Salah has only posted two more shots than Núñez so far — even despite the Egyptian playing every minute of Liverpool's season — and the same applies to Luis Díaz, which captures his nature as a poacher with expert movement.

To maximise his contributions, Núñez could take inspiration from Haaland's comments, only attempting to touch the ball whenever he's capable of finding the back of the net as opposed to roaming into more withdrawn zones.

The South American is unlike Roberto Firmino, who he seems to be replacing. For years, the 30-year-old has almost acted as an additional midfielder for Liverpool by helping with build-up, but Núñez isn't quite as technical.

Supporters might have picked up on one or two of his technical inefficiencies so far, with a training clip surfacing on social media recently which doesn't paint him in the best light.

Overall, Haaland recognises the technical level of the players around him at the Etihad and consequently dedicates most of his energy towards finishing moves and little else.

Núñez is similar in type, as Van Dijk suggests. For that reason, perhaps Jürgen Klopp should aim to establish the same dynamic at Liverpool, allowing him to come alive in the penalty box and make the difference by delivering in key moments.