Waiting for Haaland and Salah to shine at the Etihad

Pep Guardiola and Arne Slot will face each other at the Etihad Stadium, as both coaches understand that there is not much room for mistakes in the context of Arsenal starting the season with impressive form.

In recent years, this encounter has often been decisive in the Premier League title race, but this season may only play an indirect role. Man City are currently in second place, 6 points behind the "Gunners" after 10 matches, while Liverpool are right behind with 1 point less. Both teams are now entering a fierce chase.

However, with City increasingly rotating around Erling Haaland's scoring form, while Liverpool is reviving strongly under Slot, this is still a promising heavy match.

Notably, this will also be the 1,000th match of Guardiola's coaching career. Can he mark this memorable milestone with a victory, or will Liverpool reap the same grief to the Etihad as last season?

Will Haaland or Salah take full attention?

If we predict that one of the two stars Erling Haaland or Mohamed Salah will shine at the Etihad, all signs suggest that that person is the Norwegian striker.

Haaland, in all aspects, is in destructive form. He has 13 goals in 10 Premier League games, accounting for 65% of City's total goals. Last weekend, Haaland continued to show his ability to hunt for the top goal with a double in the 3-1 win over Bournemouth, then scored against Dortmund in the Champions League.

In all competitions this season, Haaland has only failed to score in 2 matches - against Aston Villa and Tottenham.

"I had a good start and felt really good. I felt this was the best version of myself. I have never felt better than now. To maintain my form, I need to keep my mind in shape, recover well, receive a lot of care, and eat properly.

I need to focus, maintain energy, motivation and do good things for my body and brain" - Haaland shared.

Meanwhile, Salah - the top scorer last season - has only scored 4 goals in 10 matches. The opportunity for him to defend the Golden Boot title is considered over, just like for anyone who is not named Haaland.

However, despite many people saying Salah has declined, the Egyptian star has just scored in two consecutive Premier League games for the first time since February, with goals in the loss to Brentford and the win over Aston Villa. Is that a sign that he is really back?

Salah last scored in two consecutive Premier League games - a run of six games in a row - his final goal was the opening shot from a mischievous corner kick, helping Liverpool beat Man City 2-0 last season.

So far, he has scored 9 goals and 6 assists against Man City, the best achievement in the history of the tournament for a player against the home team at Etihad Stadium.

If the last 2 matches are a positive sign for Liverpool, it could also be a bad sign for Man City. Because Salah, like Haaland, is still capable of deciding the outcome of this match.

In fact, Haaland could break the Premier League record this weekend by becoming the fastest player to reach the 100-goal mark in the history of the tournament. The Norwegian striker has only 2 goals left to reach this incredible milestone.