Leipzig star Sesko does not want Haaland comparisons

Benjamin Sesko is not keen on comparisons with Erling Haaland ahead of their meeting this evening.

RB Leipzig host Manchester City in the Champions League, with both teams winning their first group stage matches against Young Boys and Crvena zvezda respectively.

Like Haaland, 20-year-old Sesko burst on to the scene at FC Salzburg, scoring 29 goals in 79 appearances — and that has led to him being likened to the Norwegian striker.

Sesko said: "This is comparing myself to one of the best players in the world. 

"Of course, it is not easy to compare and like I've said before, I am my own player.

"There are similarities with our height and speed but in general we have very different playing styles.

"But I look up to him a lot, especially when we were at Salzburg together.

"For example, when I was playing for the youth team I went to watch him and it was really interesting, some of our movements are the same.

"Also I sometimes watch YouTube videos of him, because his moments are great and learning from them helps me a lot."

Sesko, who has scored seven goals in 22 appearances for Slovenia, was not keen to play on the fact some of his Salzburg team-mates previously claimed he was better than Haaland.

He said: "It was probably just some stuff in training where I looked better than him.

"But now if you look at the statistics, Erling is one of the best. However, there are possibly a few areas where I might be stronger than him. 

"This is just talk among players though — everything Erling does is outstanding in general and as I said before, we have different playing styles."

Sesko is looking forward to the challenge of playing City, although stressed the need for Leipzig to be at their very best against the Treble winners.

He added: "Playing against City is going to be interesting because they are probably the best team in the world.

"You have to be more than 100% ready for a match like this and fight them with full power."