- Ezri Konsa – The Aston Villa defender kept Manchester City’s Erling Haaland quiet when the two faced off against each other at Villa Park back in October. Villa won the game 1-0 with both players completing the full 90 minutes. Morgan Rogers has called Konsa “one of the best centre-backs in football” and has backed his England and Aston Villa team-mate to keep Haaland quiet during the quarter-final against Norway.
- Marc Guehi – Guehi and Haaland might now be team-mates at Manchester City but they played against each other when City played Guehi’s old club Crystal Palace in December. Haaland certainly had the better of the game, scoring twice for City in a 3-0 win at Selhurst Park.
- Dan Burn – Haaland went up against Newcastle and England’s giant defender Dan Burn when the teams faced each other in the EFL Cup semi-final in February. Burn didn’t play in the first leg but he returned for the second leg where – despite City winning the game 3-1 – he kept Haaland quiet before the Norwegian was substituted in the 71st minute. They then faced each other in the Premier League a couple of weeks later, where Burn picked up an early booking before Haaland managed to set up England’s Nico O’Reilly for the winning goal.
- Djed Spence – Spence was part of Tottenham’s back four when they pulled off a surprise 2-0 win over Haaland’s Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium back in August. The Norwegian struggled to have an impact on the game as Spence played the full 90 minutes.
- Reece James – Chelsea captain Reece James faced Haaland twice last season, with the striker failing to score on both occasions. Although Haaland did manage to assist Antoine Semenyo for Manchester City’s winning goal in the FA Cup final between the two sides in May.
