'He was 18 and ... wow' - Man City striker Erling Haaland ready for Liverpool FC duel with Virgil van Dijk

16.10.2022 - 09:43 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Neil Lennon is the manager who launched Virgil van Dijk's career in British football and he's struggled to ever find fault with the central defender, but this weekend he might well meet his match.

Lennon has had a significant impact on the Liverpool centre-back after signing him for Celtic from Groningen in 2013, but the Northern Irishman has had a close view of Erling Haaland as well.

He was managing Hibs in the Europa League when they were paired with Molde in a qualifying round in August 2018, losing the second leg 3-0 thanks to two goals from a certain Norwegian striker.

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"I managed Hibs when we played Molde in the Europa League when Ole was manager. Haaland played in the second game, he was only 18 and you thought “Wow”," said Lennon.

"Even then, me and Garry (Parker, Hibs' assistant manager), Garry could see a player and said he was unbelievable. The deal was already done for him to go to Salzburg a few months later. I kept following him."

That makes Lennon pretty well placed to assess Sunday's heavyweight tussle between Haaland and Van Dijk at Anfield. This remains the Premier League's biggest game of the season, even if Liverpool's early struggles have taken some of the heat out of it when it comes to the title race, with Manchester City 13 points ahead of them.

Lennon was back on British soil this week, taking charge of his Omonia Nicosia side at Old Trafford in the Europa League on Thursday night. On returning to Cyprus he will be tuning in to the Premier League's weekend headliner.

"This will be a clash of the Titans I think. I don’t know who will come out on top. But I think Virgil will really look forward to it," he said.

"He