Jamie Carragher picks out key difference between Haaland and Kane, as ‘special’ claim made

Jamie Carragher has explained how Erling Haaland will evolve differently to Harry Kane amid the Norwegian’s fantastic Premier League form.

Haaland has already got to work on tearing up the league, having registered 10 goals and one assist in just six matches so far.

He got his first Manchester City hat-trick in their 4-2 comeback win over Crystal Palace on August 27. And Haaland backed that up with another hat-trick in the 6-0 thrashing of Nottingham Forest.

Aston Villa managed to keep the striker down to just one goal in their draw on Saturday, which is a big achievement given his current form.

Haaland put City in front in the 50th minute when Kevin de Bruyne put in a looping cross to the back post, allowing him to finish on the volley.

But Pep Guardiola’s side had to settle for a point as Leon Bailey’s strike handed Villa an important point at home.

Many comparisons have been drawn between Haaland and Kane since the former opted to join City from Borussia Dortmund.

Kane is the man who has been tipped to break Alan Shearer’s Premier League goalscoring record, which stands at 260. The Tottenham ace is currently on 188.

However, Haaland has got off to a great start in England. And at just 22, he has plenty of time to become one of the division’s all-time greats.

Carragher lauds Erling Haaland after latest goal

Carragher was on co-commentary for City’s draw with Villa. He made an interesting comparison between Kane’s change into a deep-lying striker and how Haaland will play for the next 10 years.

“Harry Kane’s development has just come naturally for him, maybe he didn’t have this energy and pace in behind to hurt players,” the pundit said (via Manchester Evening News).

“Players only come short when they can’t get behind defences. That’s certainly not going to be the case for the next 10 years with Haaland.

“I think we are going to be seeing something special over the next few years for Man City.

“A lot of his goals have been goals that most strikers would score. But some of them have been devastating when you see that power and pace in behind.” He added: “We’re going to talk about him a lot over the years.”

Haaland compared with Thierry Henry

This fits in with what Carragher said about Haaland recently. “When he’s finished his time at Man City or in the Premier League, we’ll be putting him alongside Thierry Henry,” he said on Sky Sports.

“I think this lad could end up being the best player we’ve seen in the Premier League. I really do believe that as I think he’s that special.

“He’s made a brilliant start and I can’t say long may that continue because that would be a lie. But I’m really excited to see him at the weekend.”

Haaland is certainly the biggest threat to Prem defences right now. If he continues at his current scoring rate, then he could surpass the record of Prem goals in a single 38-match season. That is currently the 32 Mo Salah registered for Liverpool in 2017-18.

Arguably the only thing that could stop him is injury. Erling Haaland had several spells in the treatment room while at Dortmund. City fans will be hoping this problem doesn’t come back to affect him once again.

Meanwhile, Chelsea want to offer a key player a new long-term contract amid City keeping tabs on his situation.