12 January 2023 , 22:30
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Manchester United cannot bully Erling Haaland out of the Manchester derby, according to Joleon Lescott.
In United's 6-3 defeat at City back in October, Haaland got the better of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez by scoring a hat-trick. Former City defender Lescott claimed Varane and Martinez took the wrong approach by trying to rough him up and said that method will simply not work.
“I think Martinez and Varane tried to get physical with him,” said Lescott. “I remember a couple of instances where Haaland just kind of manhandled them - and he enjoys that.
“So there has to be a different approach, because the outcome wasn't positive for them as individuals or as a team. It's a case of recognising what didn't work in the last game and changing that.”
Everton's Ben Godfrey also tried to rile Haaland in their 1-1 draw at the Etihad on New Year's Eve, but the City striker still scored, with Lescott claiming that showed such an approach is flawed.
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“Ben Godfrey tried, but Haaland still scored in that game,” said Lescott. “Your objective is for Haaland not to score and Godfrey did exceptionally well that game overall. But he'll still have come off disappointed, having let Haaland score.”
Lescott also believes United must cut off the supply to Haaland, to stop him from adding to his goal tally on Saturday. Haaland has been a revelation this season, plundering 27 goals from 23 appearances, and will be hungry to add to that total against United.
Erling Haaland had the better of the Man Utd defence during their meeting at the Etihad in October (Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)Lescott, who played in City's historic 6-1 win at Old Trafford in 2011, said the only way to nullify Haaland is to stop him from receiving the ball. “There is a way to do it but it's probably not him, it's nullifying the supply,” said Lescott.
“You'll see that he doesn't get as involved in the build-up as much. Credit to him, he doesn't get frustrated if he's not involved, but he operates in and around the box.
“Your thought process should be to nullify the supply, because if enough chances fall to him, he's going to execute and that's why he's regarded as world-class.
“You're never going to stop someone for 90 minutes, especially when they're world-class, so with regards to completely nullifying Haaland, I don't think anyone's had success in doing that yet.
Erling Haaland dropped a hat-trick on Man Utd earlier this season (Michael Regan/Getty Images)“Going back a few months to the Borussia Dortmund game at home in the Champions League, I think he was quiet for the whole game. Then, in the last second, he just did this flying scorpion kick and it's game over.
“So you can never keep the players like that quiet the whole game because they have moments of brilliance and that's what makes them special.”
Lescott claimed City will go to Old Trafford believing they can win, having triumphed on six of their last 10 visits there in the Premier League.
“With the greatest respect to Old Trafford, I don't think there are many teams that are overawed now,” said Lescott. “I think in recent years and seasons, it's been a place where you feel you can get something and it'll be no different for City.”
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