West Ham were given an unwelcome reminder after Erling Haaland scored in Manchester City’s 5-4 win over Fulham.
The Norway striker reached 100 Premier League goals as he continued his brilliant goal-scoring form at Craven Cottage.
It took Haaland only 111 games to get that number, which was 13 games fewer than what it took Alan Shearer to hit triple digits.
Nuno Espirito Santo after Bournemouth v West Ham United - Premier League
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Erling Haaland has scored nine goals against West Ham in the Premier League
Haaland reaching the milestone was followed by a breakdown of all his Premier League goals.
Wolves are the 25-year-old’s favourite opponents, with him scoring 10 goals against the bottom-ranked top-flight side.
West Ham United, unfortunately for them, come in at second, as Haaland has found the back of the net against them on nine occasions.
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It only took him six games to achieve that feat, with him finding pleasure in taking on the London Stadium outfit.
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Last season, when the Hammers hosted City, they lost the game 3-1 and Haaland scored all three goals for the visitors.
In the six matches he’s played against the Irons, the former Borussia Dortmund striker has failed to find the back of the net only once.
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How can Nuno Espirito Santo nullify Haaland’s threat?
Haaland is a 6ft 4in powerhouse who’s not just strong and good in the air, but is also extremely quick and clever, making him hard to play against.
He occupies spaces wisely on the pitch and within the blink of an eye, he darts towards the ball and is clean through on goal.
The fact that he’s been caught offside just once since 2023 suggests that he’s perfect at timing his runs as well.
To combat Haaland’s threat, Nuno Espirito Santo is most likely to adopt a compact mid-block to deny service to him.
He will also ask his backline to drop a few yards deeper and not look to play the offside trap, as it is pointless against the Norwegian.
Deploying a back three gives Nuno the luxury of having one of his defenders man-marking Haaland out of the game and this could be a role that Konstantinos Mavropanos relishes.
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