- Haaland should win Premier League golden boot
- Needs to be as prolific in FA Cup final
- Guardiola says striker will score against Chelsea
Erling Haaland has never scored for Manchester City in a cup final, but Pep Guardiola insists this is about the change.
Eight matches, zero goals. This is the surprising situation Erling Haaland finds himself in at Manchester City when it comes to the finals of cup competitions.
The striker has been tremendous since making the move from Borussia Dortmund, and he has two Premier League golden boots to prove it, plus an impending third.
However, he has not yet scored for City in a cup final, which is a stat he will be hoping to change on Saturday afternoon.
Pep Guardiola backs Erling Haaland to score in FA Cup final
Haaland might not have got his long awaited cup final goal yet, but Pep Guardiola is backing him to score against Chelsea.
The 25-year-old has scored in his four most recent starts, so he just needs to add one more game to this tally in order to break the deadlock.
When asked in his pre-match press conference about Haaland not scoring in cup finals, Guardiola said: “Oh, no! Good. I like these kind of questions. Tomorrow, it’s going to happen. On the opposite side, don’t ask me. But on that side, it’s good. Tomorrow he will score.”
Haaland will be defined by his failure if it continues
It is all well and good scoring lots of goals as a centre forward, but failing to find the net during the biggest occasions can define a player.
This was the case with Harry Kane, an extraordinary talent who was often accused of ghosting in finals when he played for Tottenham Hotspur.
Nobody can question the fact the England captain is world class, but showing that in the biggest games is essential.
Haaland needs to break his own pattern now and get himself a goal at Wembley, otherwise it will continue to be a talking point into next season.
Chelsea have kept Haaland quiet this season
Man City have scored four times against Chelsea during the current Premier League campaign, but none of these goals have come from Haaland.
Worse still, he has taken nine shots when facing the Blues, yet only two of these have successfully landed on target.
Chelsea have not done well at stopping City’s attack this season, but they seem to have figured out Haaland.
If the forward is to finally score in a cup final, he needs to be more clinical. Beating the goalkeeper can be hard enough, but especially when his shots do not even create a challenge.
