Owen makes Haaland

Former Liverpool and Manchester United striker Michael Owen has teasingly accused Erling Haaland of being a "cheat" after seeing his Premier League hat-trick record destroyed by the Manchester City sensation.

The Norwegian striker has enjoyed an electric start to life at the Etihad Stadium and chalked up his third Premier League treble - and third in succession at home - in the 6-3 win in the Manchester Derby.

That has seen Haaland smash Owen's all-time Premier League record of matches taken to register three hat-tricks. The former England forward took 48 matches to secure three match balls in the top flight. Haaland beat that record by an astounding 40 matches against the Red Devils.

After watching the Norwegian's latest prolific display, Owen has joked that having Haaland in the City team is a cheat code.

Speaking on the Pitchside podcast, he said: "In this Manchester City team as well, everything is aligned, isn't it? He's [Haaland has] come to the Premier League with experience under his belt. He's the finished product now but he's still young enough.

"He's gone to a team that is absolutely in peak form, creating goals. They've got someone called Kevin De Bruyne playing behind him.

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"Notwithstanding all that, he's just an incredible player. He makes bad balls look good. He can score with any foot, with his head. He's bigger than everyone, faster than anyone, stronger than anyone. It's just a bit of a cheat really."

Haaland has already smashed Owen's record, and the latter is tipping the former Borussia Dortmund star to rack up even more eye-catching numbers. The pundit suggested he could even challenge Harry Kane for Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League goalscoring record, whilst predicting that he will break the record for goals scored in a season.

Owen continued: "I would say so [Haaland could break Shearer's record]. If he's having success and if the Premier League remains the strongest then I would say so and it's amazing isn't it? He's been in the Premier League a matter of weeks and we're already talking about Alan Shearer's record already.

"I said on the TV after about three or four games that this fella is freakish and he could score 50 goals in all competitions and I was saying it partly having a laugh and now I think, was I underplaying it? Is he going to score 60 now? If he stays fit, he's going to score 50 plus. It's impossible not to.

"The records he's going to smash, I mean he's already smashed half of them. The Premier League one season I think it's early 30s, [Mohamed] Salah I think. I mean that's going to get absolutely trounced isn't it of he stays fit? It's going to be trounced before the World Cup.

"It's scary to think what he could do. It's exciting isn't it to see someone like that and we've got him in the Premier League. We can watch him every week. He's box office and you want to watch him all the time."

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