James Tarkowski has said that one Manchester City player is so hard to play against.
Having played every minute of Everton’s current Premier League campaign, the defender has come up against a lot of top-flight players this season.
With just one game left to play before the season ends, which will see the Toffees stay in the Premier League next year, the Englishman has shared his thoughts on who some of the most difficult opponents he’s come up against this term have been.
Specifically, one particular City star was given a special mention for how hard he made it for Tarkowski and the rest of his Everton teammates.
Tarkowski says City and Erling Haaland are unstoppable
Speaking in a recent edition of The Friday Football Social on BBC Radio 5 Live, Tarkowski had this to say when asked who his toughest opponent has been this season.
He said: “Toughest one-v-one this season? I mean, Haaland is always the answer to that because he scores a goal every time you seem to play against them.
“He doesn’t get involved in a lot of the game, but there are moments when you switch off, not even switch off, to be honest, the moments they just catch you out more switching off, they just get you.
“It’s the City boys for me, I think they are a top, top side, as are Arsenal, but for me, City as a team and Haaland as a striker, I just don’t think you can stop him.”
Everton aren’t the only side Haaland has terrorised this season
After City beat Everton 3-1 at Goodison Park in December, Pep Guardiola’s side secured a 2-0 win over the Toffees at the Etihad Stadium in February.
In that home victory, Haaland, whom City paid £51m to sign back in 2022, scored both goals in addition to making two key passes and successfully completing two of the three dribbles he attempted.
This makes it easy to see why Tarkowski said the Norwegian was particularly difficult to play against even though he only had 26 touches of the ball across the 90 minutes.
Also, with the 23-year-old racking up 27 goals in 30 league appearances this season, Everton aren’t the only side in the division that have fallen victim to Haaland’s impressive goalscoring ability.