“One mistake can be fatal” - Liverpool icon reveals fears for Man Utd defender in derby with Man City

Manchester City welcome rivals Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and one of the big talking points ahead of the game surrounds the battle between Lisandro Martinez and Erling Haaland.

The latter has burst onto the scene in English football and has scored a staggering 14 goals in just 11 matches across all competitions.

It’s the sort of figure that should strike fear into the hearts of any opposing defender and one former Premier League icon believes United’s Lisandro Martinez will have ‘his work cut out’ against the Scandinavian superstar.

Writing his column for The Telegraph, ex-Liverpool defender and now Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher says: “The best advice Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag can offer Lisandro Martínez about dealing with Erling Haaland is to keep away from him.”

The Champions League winner details the battle that the Argentinian will face and says he will need to “out think” the league’s top scorer rather than trying to out muscle him.

The stature of Martinez, which is relatively small compared to most modern centre backs, has been highlighted as a concern since his move to Old Trafford but the Argentine has been excellent for United in recent outings and is very much proving his doubters wrong.

However, probably the most noticeable feature of Haaland’s game, other than his exceptional finishing ability, is his robust approach to leading the line.

Carrager does believe that size is “no barrier” when it comes to defending and points to Italy’s Franco Baresi, Argentina’s Daniel Passarella and England’s Bobby Moore who were all exceptional defenders despite standing less than six feet tall.

He then says that Martinez should take the same approach he did when coming up against a striker who the Norwegian has drawn comparisons to, Chelsea legend Didier Drogba.

The Liverpool icon explains what he believes are the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to approach defending against Haaland and preventing the City forward running riot.