Why Erling Haaland will be relishing a clash with his favourite opponents RB Leipzig
Manchester City will take on RB Leipzig in the Champions League this week. Pretty sure we've all heard that before. In recent seasons, die Roten Bullen have very much become familiar foes for the Sky Blues.
Since 2021, the pair have met six times, clashing in the group stags in 2021 and two seasons later, with Man City demolishing Marco Rose's side 7-0 in the round of 16, en route to the treble. That night, five of the goals at the Etihad were scored by Erling Braut Håland, who ended his first campaign in England with a ridiculous 52 goals to his name.
In his senior club career, Håland has so far scored 310 goals against 91 different opponents, with RB Leipzig his favourite of the lot.
Clubs Erling Braut Håland has scored most goals against
| Clubs | Håland appearances vs | Håland goals vs |
|---|---|---|
| RB Leipzig | 8 | 12 |
| West Ham United | 8 | 11 |
| Wolves | 7 | 10 |
| Crystal Palace | 7 | 10 |
| Liverpool | 12 | 9 |
| Manchester United | 11 | 9 |
| Fulham | 8 | 8 |
| Burnley | 5 | 8 |
| Bayern Munich | 9 | 7 |
| Brighton | 8 | 7 |
| Everton | 6 | 7 |
Note: Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt.
As documented, Håland has scored more times against RB Leipzig than any other club in his career. He bagged three seperate braces against them during his time at Borussia Dortmund, two in the Bundesliga, as well as finding the net twice during the 2021 DFB-Pokal Final at the Olympiastadion.
Since joining Man City, he has been on target both times Leipzig have visited the Etihad, first notching that aforementioned five goal haul, before starting the comeback when Pep Guardiola's team came from 2-0 down to prevail eight months later.
In the history of the Champions League, only three men have scored five times in a single match. Alongside Håland, the others are Lionel Messi against Bayer Leverkusen in March 2012 and Luiz Adriano at BATE Borisov in October 2014; quite an eclectic trio.
So, having notched braces during both of his Champions League appearances so far this season against Porto and Paris Saint-Germain, how likely is it that Håland will add to his tally on Wednesday night?
Well, led by former Man City defender Martín Demichelis, RB Leipzig have already been on the wrong end of two shellackings in the league phase. The Bundesliga side have been hammered 4-1 by both Como at Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia and Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, the latter a fortnight ago.
They did though beat PSV Eindhoven in their sole home game to date; Maarten Vandevoordt saving a Ivan Perišić spot-kick, before Brajan Gruda snatched victory with a stunning free-kick. Nevertheless, considering Leipzig have also been demolished 6-1 by Bayern Munich in recent weeks, the 2,285 fans bedecked in sky blue are likely to have plenty of goals to celebrate in Saxony.
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