Haaland's goals helped fire City to their third straight Premier League title last term, as Pep Guardiola's side completed a treble
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Erling Haaland has pinpointed the moment he sensed that Manchester City would retain their Premier League title last season.
After a thrilling race with Arsenal, City ultimately finished five points ahead of the Gunners – who faltered late on having led the way for much of the campaign.
And Haaland anticipated his side's triumph almost two months before they actually sealed their crown.
Haaland broke the Premier League Golden Boot record in his first season with City, scoring 36 goals (Image credit: Getty Images)
Asked when he felt the title race was over, Haaland – in an interview with Sky Sports alongside City teammate Jack Grealish – said:
"For me, it was the Liverpool game at home [in early April]. I was so nervous. They went 1-0 up, but I knew if we won this [match], we would win [the title]."
City went on to win that game 4-1 – with Haaland, unusually, not among the goalscorers.
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Grealish wasn't quite as confident as his colleague, though. He explained: "For me, it was a bit different. I thought, '[Arsenal] aren’t going to lose here'.
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"I was thinking if we can get to that Arsenal game and we’re three points behind them, because we always had better goal difference, then if we win that game, it would be ours to lose. I just knew if we got to that point before the Arsenal game, then I knew we were going to win."
City travel to Arsenal on Sunday for the standout fixture of the Premier League weekend; it will be the sides' second meeting this term, following the Gunners' Community Shield victory at Wembley back in August.
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
