Pep Guardiola says Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland believes he can make Premier League history by scoring another hat-trick for the third game in a row.
Haaland, 22, is bidding to become the first player in Premier League history to score three successive hat-tricks, after trebles against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.
The last player to score three successive hat-tricks in the top-flight was Liverpool forward Jack Balmer, in 1946, with Guardiola convinced Haaland expects to continue his goalscoring exploits.
“People can expect it from him, it's nice, it's good,” said Guardiola, whose City side travel to Aston Villa for Saturday's late kick-off. “I'd prefer that, and I want him to expect it, too.
“I like that he wants to score three goals every game, but this is not going to happen. I know it's not going to happen, everyone in the world of football knows it's not going to happen.
“If it doesn't happen, okay it doesn't happen. What's next? We will try to do it better next time. But the expectation is there because the numbers are incredible for this guy in his career.
“He's scored nine goals in five games and it's really good. But what's important is not the perfect start.”
How many Premier League goals will Haaland score this season? Make your prediction in the comments below.
Despite cautioning against Haaland scoring a glut of goals every game, Guardiola expects him to become even more dangerous the more he plays with his new City team-mates.
“It takes time,” said Guardiola. “It's about him knowing where the space is, where there are spaces where he can drop.
“But there are moments when it's not necessary to drop, because the space is not there and, of course, he's a guy who's in the box.
“We want to play a lot of the time in there, to produce a lot of goals and put a lot of balls in there, to make him feel comfortable and to use his incredible weapons.
“He's a guy who arrives in the box and has a sense that he can score. This is what we want to do, the same with Julian [Alvarez].”
With Aymeric Laporte recovering from knee surgery and not available until next month, City signed Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji on deadline day for £15million.
“We had an opportunity to bring Manuel in, just one year left in Dortmund, with a lot of experience in Germany and for Switzerland,” said Guardiola.
“He’s perfect for what we need, good in the build-up and fast. We played against him when we faced Dortmund, so we're very pleased to have him here as competition for the central defenders.”
