Erling Haaland is the biggest obstacle standing in the way of Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes, Jamie Carragher has claimed.
The Gunners sit top of the Premier League table after eight games with a three-point gap over Manchester City, having taken full advantage of Liverpool losing three league games on the bounce.
Although Liverpool posed the greatest threat to Arsenal at the start of the season, after winning the Premier League last term and splashing out over £450million on new players in the summer, Carragher is backing Manchester City to pose more problems for the Gunners — solely because of Haaland.
‘Arsenal came into this season worried about Liverpool being the major obstacle to ending a 21-year title wait. Now their biggest fear might be Erling Haaland,’ Carragher wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
‘Where Arsenal have the best squad among the contenders and Liverpool must fix well-documented issues, Manchester City have the most influential player and dynamic attacker.
‘The Norwegian is the biggest reason why Pep Guardiola’s side have a great chance of reclaiming their crown. Without him, City’s most realistic target would be finishing in the top four.
Jamie Carragher says Erling Haaland is the biggest obstacle in the way of Arsenal’s title hopes
The Gunners sit at the top of the Premier League table, three points ahead of Manchester City
Carragher believes that Haaland is the greatest goal-scorer we have ever seen in England
‘I stand by my claim that Haaland is already the greatest goalscorer we have ever seen in England.’
The City superstar boasts a remarkable goal-scoring record so far this campaign, chalking up 15 goals from 11 games across all competitions.
He has scored in seven of Manchester City’s eight Premier League matches to date, only failing to find the net during Tottenham’s 2-0 win in August.
While the Norwegian has netted 11 Premier League goals, his team-mates have only chipped in six more — and all in matches where Haaland has already found to net.
‘When a title-challenging side looks so dependent on one footballer, usually that is a source for concern. Guardiola will feel blessed,’ Carragher added.
‘Haaland is so good he can be the difference every time he plays. He is the most lethal finisher of this generation, which is why he is already worthy of comparison with past legends.’
The former Liverpool defender went on to claim that Haaland is in the same category of greatness as Thierry Henry and Ian Rush, because his goal-scoring has led to Manchester City winning a plethora of titles and honours.
He explained how Alan Shearer, the Premier League’s all-time top scorer with 260 goals, Gary Lineker and Harry Kane all scored in bucket loads but were unable to translate those goals into titles with the same success.
The ex-Liverpool star has placed Haaland in the same category as Arsenal icon Thierry Henry
Haaland has scored a remarkable 15 goals in 11 games across all competitions this campaign
Shearer inspired Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League in 1995 before moving to Newcastle, where he scored the majority of his 260 goals without title success.
Meanwhile, both Lineker and Kane failed to win a domestic title.
‘Between them, Lineker, Shearer and Kane were the league’s top goalscorer on nine occasions, with just one trophy to show for it across those particular seasons,’ he added.
‘That is why in the pantheon of the greats, the likes of Henry and Ian Rush – who are revered as part of legendary teams – can argue their goalscoring records carried more weight, albeit Henry was a much different profile of attacker to the others.
Haaland is already in the Rush and Henry category in terms of his goal output because of his medal collection, which is bound to get bigger.’
Despite Carragher’s claim that Guardiola will feel ‘blessed’, the Manchester City boss fired a stern warning to his players last week insisting they cannot rely solely on Haaland’s goal-scoring.
‘We cannot do good things with just Erling,’ Guardiola said after his side’s 2-0 win against Everton, where Haaland scored both goals.
‘Our other players have to make a step up. The chances we create are so clear. They have to score at that level.’
Pep Guardiola told his players they must step up and not rely solely on Haaland’s goal-scoring
Asked if players not sharing the load was a concern, Guardiola replied: ‘Yeah, we have to score more. If we don’t create it’s fine but when we create we have to score.
‘They know it. We talk about it for a long time. In the training sessions they are good at finishing so they have to do it. I don’t have doubts that when it is unlocked players will score.’
