The current international break has given Premier League sides a chance to pause for breath before the run-in, as the Nations League and World Cup qualifiers take centre stage across Europe.
When domestic football returns at the weekend it will be a sprint to the finish line, with leaders Liverpool hoping their 12-point advantage means they get the job done sooner, rather than later, while perhaps the more interesting battle will be for the Champions League spots, with half of the decision eyeing qualification for Europe’s leading competition next season.
Manchester City and Newcastle currently sit fifth and sixth respectively and two of their leading players have been the subject of a classic debate during the current international break.
Managers weigh in on Isak vs Haaland debate
Scandinavian strikers Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak are behind only Mo Salah in the Premier League top scorer list this season and their national team managers have both been quizzed on who the division’s best striker is in recent days.
First to speak was Sweden boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, a former Newcastle United striker, who unsurprisingly sang Isak’s praises.
"Obviously I’m biased, but Isak is the best striker in the Premier League in my opinion,” he told the Mirror. "He’s just won a cup and was instrumental for Newcastle in that game, as he always is. Trophies are important milestones in a player’s career.
"He’ll always remember winning the cup and he’ll always remember scoring in the final, it’s a special feeling. I’m extremely happy with him playing for Sweden. He’s a great player and a great person.”
That got the inter-Scandi debate going, with Norway boss Stale Solbakken insisting that Isask still has some way to go to match Haaland’s achievements.
“Both are very, very good players,” he told Fotbollskanalen. “They are a little different as players. There is no doubt that Erling has come further than Isak when it comes to having more titles and having scored more goals. He has played many more big games.
“But Isak's curve has made him closer. It's hard to do better than what Erling did when Manchester City won the treble. Isak has played in a team that has fewer resources in terms of players around him. He is also a player who I think has taken huge steps in terms of his breakthrough power.
“The last point that makes me think he will be even better than he is now is that he has started to score the easy goals. When he is just in the right place. Many of his goals have otherwise been that he dribbled past players and then put a shot on the crossbar.”
Even Martin Odegaard has joined in on the debate – and he should be well-placed to comment, as a former team-mate of Isak's at Real Sociedad and a team-mate of Haaland's for Norway.
“Both are good in and around the box and score a lot of goals. They are a little different in their style of play, but both are dangerous goal scorers,” the Arsenal captain said.
“I have been lucky enough to play with both of them and found it enjoyable. If you look at what Erling has done and the records, he sets all the time, it speaks for itself. But it is clear that Isak has had a very good season and is a fantastic player.”
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, this is classic pub debate fodder. Last month we ranked Isak as the second-best striker in the world, as he moved above Haaland for the first time. Since then he’s added a Carabao Cup winners’ medal as Haaland and Manchester City have struggled to gain any momentum, but assuming both remain in the Premier League, this debate should run and run.
