Alan Shearer Exclusive: How to stop relentless Haaland and time for Liverpool's signings to come good

• How do you stop relentless Erling Haaland?

• Big decisions for Eddie Howe ahead of huge game

• It's time for Liverpool's new signings to step up

• Gabriel absence is a blow but Arsenal have squad depth

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You need a lot in your favour to stop relentless Haaland

Erling Haaland has blown the Premier League away. He's blown world football away because not only is he doing it in the Premier League, he's doing it in Europe and for Norway. He's a brilliant talent. I see things in him that I really admire, I get and understand because I've been there myself in terms of the goals. 

For us to have someone of that quality in our league is a great thing and I've got great respect for him. 

How do Newcastle stop him at the weekend? That's the difficult question. I'm not comparing myself to Haaland at all but I know that when you're on a great run of form, you feel as if you're unstoppable and I guess that's what Haaland is feeling right now. 

But really, how do you stop him? With a little bit of luck, teammates backing you up and that's it really, you have to try and hope for the best, do the best you can and if, for some reason, he smacks one in the top corner and it's through great ability rather than a mistake, sometimes you just have to admit he's a very good player and difficult to stop. 

Whoever plays at centre-half this weekend, it'll be about looking out for each other and protecting each other. You know for 90 minutes that you won't shut him out and keep him completely quiet. You have to try and limit his opportunities and supply source because that's what he relies on.

Eddie Howe has some decisions to make 

It's going to be a tough game because Man City are flying and got a great result against Liverpool where they played really well. Haaland is in the form of his life so Newcastle will be up against it. 

Newcastle need to start firing pretty quickly. Eddie Howe has some decisions to make in terms of selection and formation because their Premier League form, particularly away has been really poor and lacking in energy. 

Everything we associate Eddie Howe's team with since he's been here is energy, high pace, pressing and horrible to play against. Certainly with away games that hasn't been the case so they have to win and win pretty quickly to start climbing the league.

Man City can't afford to lose ground in the title race and I guess Arsenal will be looking at this game and thinking that they know how tough it is going to St James' Park. Both Arsenal and Liverpool went away with victories but they were last-minute winners so they'll be thinking that, if they can do their job this weekend then they'll be hoping Newcastle can do them a favour. 

Liverpool's new signings need to step up

It's not just Florian Wirtz who hasn't hit the ground running for Liverpool. He's taken the brunt of it because he's been fit and playing but they paid a lot of money for Alexander Isak and haven't seen him, a lot of money for Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez but the noise around those players hasn't been as loud as it has around Wirtz.

I think Wirtz is a really talented footballer. I don't know him peronally, but I guess he's going through a bit of a tough time mentally, as is the whole football club. You know as well as I do, the only way to get through it is to keep going and hopefully something will change.

My guess is that he has that much ability that it can only be a matter of time. For his sake, I hope it's sooner rather than later. I do see too much ability in Wirtz for his move to Liverpool not to work. 

It's a big game for Liverpool against Nottingham Forest. Particularly when a new manager has gone in there and will be looking to sure things up and keep it tight.

Liverpool are at Anfield and will be expected to win but I think Forest will make it tough for them. You can already hear Sean Dyche's team talk telling them to keep it tight and frustrate Liverpool.

It's a huge, huge game for Liverpool. They have to bounce back.

Semenyo will attract lots of attention in the transfer window

Antoine Semenyo has been linked with a move to Anfield, now, I don't know what Liverpool's plans will be for next season but there'll be a huge list of Premier League clubs that have already enquired about him and would love him in their team because of the ability that he has.

As we've seen with Kerkez, it's alright playing well at Bournemouth where, it's a great football club, but in terms of size it's tiny compared to someone like Liverpool. I guess you can say that with most players.

These clubs invest a lot of money into players so they'll know everything they need to about the player already.

Arsenal are losing the best centre-half in the league

The North London derby is a great game to watch with a good atmosphere between two huge clubs. Arsenal and Spurs fans will tell you it's the biggest and best which I get and understand. Newcastle and Sunderland will say it's theirs, Liverpool and Everton will tell you that and so would Celtic and Rangers fans.

It's a great game and one I love watching. It always seems to give something back for the viewers and I'm looking forward to it. It should be a good game.

News of Gabriel's injury won't be pleasing for Arsenal fans, but they have got the squad depth to come in. They have other options and it's not as if they're down to the bare bones at Arsenal. They've got the biggest squad they've had for a while in terms of size and quality. 

Gabriel is a top defender and I don't care who comes in, it will be tough to take. Arsenal have good players but there isn't any Gabriels around. That's why he gets the reviews he does because of how good he is. 

Defensively he's rock solid and has played a huge part in what Arsenal are doing but certainly from set-pieces, he's a huge cog in what they do in terms of scoring goals and making it very difficult for defences as well. We know how good Arsenal are with set-pieces and he plays a major part in that.

Although Arsenal have a good replacement to come in and replace him, they're losing probably the best centre-half in the Premier League.

Results are improving for Man United without Sesko's impact

Benjamin Sesko's injury won't impact Man United too much. Ruben Amorim has already shown that if you're not up to it then he won't play you. He's already made enough big decisions not to be phased by what the outside noise is. I don't suspect that bothers him at all.

He'd love Sesko to be fit, come off the bench and have an impact but he won't have that option. 

Given how well the likes of Cunha and Mbuemo have been since joining, it's not as if Sesko's injury is a disaster. Results are improving at Man United.

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