Man City vs Arsenal: Bernardo Silva names key similarity between Haaland and Cristiano

Onderwerpe: Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva, Manchester City, Arsenal, English Premier League

According to the Portuguese midfielder, Manchester City's goalscoring machine shares a trait or two with one of the greatest players of all time.

With Manchester City facing Arsenal in Wednesday's highly-anticipated Premier League showdown, all eyes will be on Erling Haaland and whether the Norwegian goalscoring machine will end the Gunners' title aspirations.

Ahead of this clash, Etihad Stadium teammate Bernardo Silva sat down for an interview to discuss a wide array of topics, including the unstoppable 22-year-old who has taken to life in the English top flight like a duck in water.

With 32 goals in 28 Premier League appearances so far this season, Haaland is set to break the record for most goals in a single campaign, which is currently held by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer (34), except those two icons needed a 42-match season to achieve that feat.

As a result, the former Dortmund striker is already drawing comparisons with the greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi thanks to his outstanding goalscoring exploits. Bernardo Silva, a man who knows Cristiano extremely well from the Portuguese national team, even made a similar suggestion.

Speaking to Arab News, the midfield maestro even revealed one trait the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is synonymous with that Haaland is exemplifying: his unrivaled hunger for goals.

The Golden Boot favorite doesn't shy away from his obsession with goals. In fact, he relishes in it, publicly admitting to having little to no desire to get on the ball and make things happen, instead preferring to stick the ball into the back of the net as frequently as possible.

"The goal figures, it's unbelievable; it's Cristiano and [Lionel] Messi level, that amount of goals," Silva said.

"Hopefully Erling can keep going that way because we need his goals until the last game of the season.

"He has definitely got the same mentality as Cristiano, always wanting to be in the box, always wanting to score. He doesn't care if he touches the ball one or two times, when he touches he scores. He's just a proper striker."

The Portuguese midfielder admitted that everyone was aware of Haaland's immense potential but not many expected him to perform this well in his debut season in England. Erling has 48 goals in all competitions this campaign and has shattered several goalscoring records, both domestically and in Europe, as Guardiola's men go in search of the illustrious treble.

"We knew what Erling could do before he arrived because he's been doing that for a few years before he joined us, in Norway, Austria, and Germany," Bernardo added.

"We watched him and we played against him, but you never know when he comes here, what level he can get to. But what he's done so far this season has been amazing and we are really happy to have him with us.

"He's definitely a special player and he's helping us very much. I hope he can get even better."

Manchester City look like they can finally win the UEFA Champions League with Haaland but before that, Guardiola's men must overcome Arsenal in the Premier League. The Gunners currently sit five points ahead in the table but the Cityzens have two games in hand. This means a win over the North London giants would all but end Arsenal's hopes of winning their first Premier League title in 19 years.