Arsenal midfielder Jorginho has admitted he and his teammates can only laugh at Erling Haaland’s sensational start to the season.
It is still early into the season, but some matches can still be ranked as title deciders. The Gunners will travel to Etihad on Sunday, September 22, 2024, to face Manchester City in a match that could play a very important part in who wins the Premier League this season.
Jorginho and his Arsenal teammates will be up against a Haaland-inspired City side that have yet to drop any points in this Premier League campaign.
The star striker has scored nine times in the opening four league matches, including two hat-tricks. This stat means the forward has now scored 99 goals in 103 games since moving to England.
Notably, the fact that only his team, Manchester City, has scored more goals than Erling in the ongoing campaign is a testament to how incredible he has been for the Pep Guardiola-led side.
Arsenal will be traveling to the Northwest side on the back of a hard-fought 1-0 over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, missing several key players also.
‘Arsenal not afraid of Erling Haaland’s form’ – Jorginho
Jorginho, who captained Arsenal in the North London Derby due to the injured Martin Odegaard, said the team is not scared by Haaland’s prolific form, and the Norwegian’s brilliant start to the campaign is only but funny.
“Erling scoring again, it is starting to make us laugh,” he said.
The midfielder also stated that Arsenal would be looking to come out of the tie with all three points and not settle for a draw against the league leaders. ”If you want to achieve big things you need to have the mentality of trying to win every single game. We look at City’s results because we look at all the games and we love football. We love the Premier League, so we watch all the games, to be fair. It doesn’t get to our head. We need to focus on us and that is what we are trying to do,” he added.
Arsenal stopped Erling Haaland from scoring last season
Arsenal were among the few Premier League teams that stopped Erling Haaland from scoring last season. The Norwegian goal machine was a shadow of his terrific debut campaign with Man City but was able to muster enough goals (26) to win his second consecutive Golden Boot award.
Arsenal’s prolific defensive pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes was Haaland’s in their two-legged Premier League ties. The Gunners will hope to replicate this during the trip to Etihad, while Haaland will hope to break the deadlock.
Meanwhile, Arsenal will have their sights on their Champions League opener against last season’s Europa League champions, Atalanta, before the City clash. Atalanta bounced back from successive Serie A defeats against Torino and Inter Milan to record a 3-2 win against Fiorentina on Sunday.
For Jorginho, the 32-year-old has played a part in just one of Arsenal’s four league games this season.
The midfielder was an unused substitute in Arsenal’s opening games against Wolves, Aston Villa, and Brighton but played the full 90 minutes in the clash against Tottenham due to injuries to most of the regular starters in the Arsenal side.
Erling Haaland’s performances for Manchester City this season
Erling Haaland has started the season on a brilliant note. He has been the key force behind Pep Guardiola’s side’s unbeaten League start to the season. The Norwegian has found the back of the net nine times for his club in just four outings for them this season.
He followed up his strike against Chelsea with a back-to-back hat-trick against Ipswich City and West Ham A brace against Brentford in his last outing completes his tally.
