Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer weigh in on Erling Haaland vs Harry Kane debate after Man City derby brace

Gary Lineker has given Erling Haaland the edge over Harry Kane but insists picking the better striker is no easy decision.

Haaland was the star performer on Sunday as Manchester City beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford. The Norwegian scored twice either side of half-time before squaring the ball for Phil Foden to net the third.

Five goals in three games have seen Haaland return to his brilliant best in front of goal, following a tough run of one in five. He and Kane are different types of strikers and Lineker believes that while it's tough to separate the two, City's No.9 edges it.

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"I would probably go Haaland because he is more of the player I was, that’s the only reason I can think of," Lineker told the Rest Is Football Podcast. "He’s the ultimate poacher.

"You can say he scores more goals, but Harry Kane and his goal-scoring ratio, even now in Germany, is better than a goal a game as is Haaland’s. They are very different talents, very different footballers but both score a phenomenal amount of goals.

"Haaland’s quicker so he could probably press higher for Pep, better than Harry Kane could. But Harry Kane drops deeper and can spray the ball around and pass it.

"You need the right players with Harry Kane in that you need players to run past him and take those positions to try and get past the opposition's defensive line. I don’t think it’s a question anyone could answer with any degree of confidence."

Should Haaland remain at City for the rest of his career, then the 23-year-old could overtake Alan Shearer as the Premier League's all-time top goalscorer. It was a record that Kane was closing