Erling Haaland was always a scary proposition, but he has turned into a different beast at this World Cup.
Seven goals from 18 shots in four games at this tournament. 62 in the last 54 for Norway. The Man City star has been in a different mode for his country.
And the next team in his path is England. Thomas Tuchel has his hands full between now and Saturday, trying to figure out a strategy for stopping a so-far unstoppable force at this World Cup.
That strategy might well include Dan Burn, who has been extremely effective at containing the big centre-forward.
Erling Haaland has long struggled against Erling Haaland
England’s defence hasn’t been as strong at this tournament as you might have expected from a Tuchel side. Reece James is a big loss, but not the only reason they are struggling.
Haaland might well be licking his lips at the prospect, but perhaps not if Burn is thrown into the starting XI.
He managed to score in his first appearance against the Newcastle centre-back in 2022, but has blanked on each of the seven occasions since. To go up against a player on a frankly impossible scoring run at international level, that kind of consistent deterrence could be invaluable.
Even that may not be enough to keep Haaland scoreless, but England should feel they have enough going forward to hurt the Norway defense.
talkSPORT’s Jeff Stelling has suggested exactly that. He remarked: “I thought I was going bonkers, I thought I was going crazy.
“Because I had this theory, which we will talk about at some stage, that when we come around to playing Norway with the aerial threat of Erling Haaland.
“Dan Burn came on last night and everyone who watched the game will tell you Dan Burn was fantastic when he came on. And Adrian (Durham) mentioned a minute or two ago, that might be the only 25 minutes of World Cup football that he might get in his career.
“Well, I think he might play against Norway, because he has the physicality to play against Erling Haaland.”
Haaland is a freak athlete, and it takes some size to even bother him in the slightest. Well 6’7″ Dan Burn may well be up to the task. We’ll see if Tuchel agrees.
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