Robin van Persie is certainly a proven Premier League striker, and now he’s trying to make his name in management. Despite his Man United past, he’s very fond of Erling Haaland at Man City.
Erling Haaland continues to take the Premier League by storm in what is now his third season at Man City, having notched his 20th league goal of the season in City’s 1-0 win over Spurs in midweek.
The Norwegian has now scored 20+ goals in his first three Premier League seasons, becoming only the second ever player to do so after Ruud van Nistelrooy with Manchester United.
And Haaland’s fine form continues despite what is an overall poor season for Pep Guardiola’s side. They sit in 4th place of the Premier League table and a whole 20 points behind leaders Liverpool.
The FA Cup remains winnable for the Cityzens who welcome Championship strugglers Plymouth Argyle to the Etihad on Saturday. The Green Army knocked out Liverpool in the previous round.
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Robin van Persie admits Erling Haaland is a better finisher than him
Whether or not Haaland features against Plymouth remains to be seen. But Guardiola may be inclined to field a strong XI given the fact that the FA Cup is realistically the only title his side can still win this season.
If the 24-year-old does play, he’ll no doubt add to his 28 goals in all competitions this season, against a Plymouth side that’s conceded 68 goals in the Championship already this season, with Wayne Rooney their manager at the start of the campaign.
Ahead of the weekend, another former Man United striker has been talking about some of the world’s best strikers right now. Robin van Persie was interviewed by ESPN and he was asked to name the better finisher out of himself and numerous strikers.
When the question of Haaland was posed, van Persie didn’t hesitate. He said Haaland was the better finisher.
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Robin van Persie’s Premier League record vs Erling Haaland’s
Now Feyenoord manager, van Persie remains an iconic striker of the Premier League, and with a record to back it up.
In 280 games in the English top flight the Dutchman scored an incredible 144 goals, across spells with Arsenal and Manchester United (96 Premier League goals for Arsenal and 48 for United).
Haaland meanwhile has 83 goals in 92 Premier League appearances so far. He averages 0.89 goals-per-game compared to van Persie who averaged 0.5, and so if Haaland stays in the Premier League for a few more seasons, he’ll surely eclipse van Persie’s record.
Both great strikers in their own rights. But Haaland is certainly on course for big numbers in the Premier League, providing he stays in the Premier League.
