Pep Guardiola admits that "no one" can compete with Erling Haaland as the records continue to fall at the Manchester City striker's feet.
The Norwegian has scored in eight successive matches in all competitions and netted his third hat-trick of the campaign in City's 6-3 win over Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. Haaland is the top goalscorer in the Premier League, having struck 14 times in eight games. He needs just 10 goals from the next 30 league games to beat last season's winners, Mohamed Salah and Son Heung min.
Haaland is aiming to keep up his impeccable form when City take on Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Ahead of the game, Guardiola spoke about the 22-year-old's impressive start to life at the Etihad Stadium and declared he is the best player in his age group at the minute.
"At his age no one can compete with him. No one," the Spaniard said of Haaland. "The numbers speak for themselves."
Phil Foden also grabbed a treble in City's Manchester derby success and has seemingly cemented his place in the starting XI, with the 22-year-old playing on the right-hand side. He also had the freedom to come over onto the left, doubling up with Jack Grealish to help the Sky Blues dominate their local rivals.
This has been a tactic of Guardiola's for most of the season, with Foden impressing in that position. However, a player that has been made to sacrifice for Foden's form is Riyad Mahrez, with the Algerian struggling for game time.
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When asked about Mahrez's lack of minutes, Guardiola said: "He has to come back in a better physical condition and after that the best will come because as a player I cannot teach him anything because he is so good."
While Haaland and Foden grabbed the headlines with their hat-tricks against the Red Devils, Kevin De Bruyne has also earned plaudits for his two assists in the derby. One of these was a mesmerising pass in-between Raphael Varane and David de Gea. It was a perfect cross and Haaland did the rest, stretching out to poke beyond the helpless United goalkeeper.
De Bruyne excelled in a deeper role, rather than operating as a conventional No.10 or a wide attacking midfielder. Nonetheless, Guardiola insisted there are still areas the Belgian needs to improve in. The City boss added: "He [De Bruyne] played a few minutes at home really well. Playing in the middle, you have to pay more attention. There are some things to [improve]. In the side, it's easier but in the middle, you have to concentrate. His desire to learn, he will do it. No doubt about it."
