Thomas Frank admits it will be 'incredibly difficult' to silence Erling Haaland - 'he's a machine!'

Thomas Frank had admitted it would be 'incredibly difficult' for Brentford to keep Erling Haaland quiet against Man City this weekend.

The Bees have won just one of their last five Premier League games. Man City, meanwhile, are looking to extend their winning streak to four.

Now it's Brentford's turn to try and stop Haaland, but Frank knows it will be difficult.

“Is it going to be difficult? It will be incredibly difficult,” Frank said at a press conference.

"They have an almost complete team and added Haaland who will destroy goalscoring records for years to come. He has been talked about a lot, he is a machine. He is an incredibly difficult team to eliminate, but I encourage us to do something.

"We never went into a game thinking we couldn't win. That's probably the biggest challenge and we're looking forward to it."

Pep Guardiola's second team are two points behind league leaders Arsenal, so they will need help from Wolves, the Gunners' opponents on Saturday, to climb into top spot.

Norwegian international Haaland is the Premier League's top scorer, with his 18 outings in 12 being enough for a seven-goal advantage over second-placed Spurs' Harry Kane. City also lead the top flight with 39 goals so far this season, nine more than Arsenal.

While Haaland stole the show, it couldn't have been accomplished without the success of teammate Kevin De Bruyne, who has nine assists and three goals in the league.

Frank pays close attention to these numbers.

He said: "(Haaland) is playing for a team that probably gives him the best chances to score goals; they will provide him with good opportunities for crosses or slip passes.

"It's about trying to stop the source; the more we can stop the source, the better.

"It won't be the first time people have tried to silence De Bruyne. He always seems to find a way."

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