Southampton have been gifted some amusing culinary advice which one celebrity chef claims is the "key to stopping Erling Haaland " ahead of Saturday's clash between Manchester City and the Saints.
Premier League and Champions League clubs are growing increasingly desperate as they search for a way to keep Haaland at bay after his blistering start to the season. The Norwegian, 22, has already 19 goals in just 12 appearances in all competitions - 14 in the top flight and five in European competition.
Haaland scored a hat-trick against Manchester United last weekend and followed that up with a double against Copenhagen on Wednesday. His prolific exploits in front of goal led to the creation of two tongue-in-cheek petitions, the first requesting he be banned from playing football and the other going further by calling for his deportation from the United Kingdom.
Haaland recently declared the secret behind his extraordinary, record-breaking form is the lasagne his dad, former City star Alf-Inge, makes him before games. Alf-Inge subsequently took to Instagram to show off his creation. Discussing the pre-match meal after City thrashed United 6-3, Haaland junior said: "I've had it before every home game now and that turns out fairly well, so there has to be something special he adds to it. I help out very little. I mostly lie on the couch watching him. That's the way it works."
The next defence faced with the unenviable task of grappling with Haaland is that of Southampton, who visit the Etihad Stadium this weekend. Ralph Hasenhuttl may be struggling to come up with a gameplan to nullify the former Borussia Dortmund striker's threat, but Italian chef Aldo Zilli claims his own lasagne recipe could be just what the Saints need.
"The secret of this one is I made fresh pasta sheets, Zilli told talkSPORT. "Then I've got some beef and pork ragu, which I've cooked very slow for about four or five hours. [I have] Added a little bit of milk, like they do in Bologna. Then the twist on this lasagne is the cheese sauce that I've made with bechamel.
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"Then the final twist is wild mushrooms and truffle. It's truffle season and wild mushroom season, so I'm going with the seasons here. Every season, I change my recipes. This one is a lasagne made especially for talkSPORT.
"So, you can give it to [Southampton defenders Kyle] Walker-Peters and [Juan] Larios, because they're going to have a handful on their hands! Guys, the key to stop Erling Haaland this weekend is my truffle lasagne. Go for it!"
Victory for City on Saturday would see them leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table ahead of the Gunners' clash with Liverpool the following day. Southampton, meanwhile, head into the weekend just one point above the relegation zone and are in need of a positive result at the Etihad, however unlikely that seems on paper.
