How Southampton boss Tonda Eckert plans to stop Man City's Erling Haaland at Wembley | OneFootball

Southampton have an almighty task of stopping Erling Haaland in their FA Cup semi-final clash on Saturday

Southampton are having to shift their focus from the ongoing battle for promotion in the Championship this Saturday, as they take on Premier League leaders Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals.

The prospect of taking on the side atop the top flight hasn't phased Tonda Eckert's side in the past, knocking out Arsenal in the quarter-finals three weeks ago to set up a clash with the Citizens at Wembley.

However, spurred on by their EFL Cup triumph last month, Pep Guardiola's side are seemingly at that stage of the campaign where they begin to look unstoppable in pursuit of a league title, and Southampton have a tough task on their hands if they are to extend their unbeaten run to 21 games and become the first non-Premier League side to make the FA Cup final since Cardiff City in 2008.

Amongst all that talent in the Manchester City dressing room, the main priority for Tonda Eckert is how to stop Erling Haaland, who has 35 goals in 47 games in all competitions this season, including a hat trick in the 4-0 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Tonda Eckert will lean on Italian schooling to stop Erling Haaland

Haaland has five goals in the four games following the March international break, and while Southampton will have their full focus on stopping the numerous avenues that City can attack through, the main port of call is to halt the free-scoring Norwegian.

Per the Daily Echo, Saints boss Tonda Eckert has leant on his previous coaching roles to attempt to find a way to stop Haaland at Wembley on Saturday.

"There are more players to stop him, but he's usually at the end of finishing sequences. You can only stop him as a collective," he said.

"You have to be clear on how you want to defend if the ball is out on the wing and make sure that you don't get dragged out because that opens up the centre.

"If we look at our last 20 games, we've not conceded much from open play. It's not that easy to score against us, but the bar rises again here.

"I have some very good friends who worked with him for many years in Salzburg and then later at [Borussia] Dortmund. It's nice to see how he adds one layer after another to his game. He's still young for a striker, and it becomes harder to stop him."

Alongside taking advice from people who have coached the 25-year-old, Eckert will be looking back at his time in Italy, where he coached at Genoa before moving to take charge of the Under-21s at St Mary's last summer.

Haaland may have scored five goals in eight games against Italian clubs, but his struggles against Inter Milan are ones that he hopes to replicate this Saturday.

"I've worked in Italy for a couple of years, where they have different concepts of how to mark in the box," he explained.

"He didn't enjoy the games against Inter Milan too much. I'm sure that we are prepared in the way we need to take care of him in the box."

Southampton will need to focus on more than just Erling Haaland to complete the underdog story

Granted, Haaland is the best finisher in the world currently, but Manchester City have so much quality alongside him, who, if not seen to, will serve to punish Southampton on Saturday instead of the Norwegian.

Given the experience in these Wembley semi-finals that Pep Guardiola's side has, there'll be an air of confidence surrounding the seven-time champions heading into the weekend as they search for their fourth consecutive FA Cup final.

But Southampton managed to capitalise on a similar confidence that Arsenal exhibited in the quarter-finals, taking the game to them and deservedly coming out on top.

They will have to approach things differently on Saturday, but there'll be a boost knowing that they can knock out big-name opposition.

If Tonda Eckert and the Saints get the setup right, there could be one of the biggest upsets in the competition's history on our hands, but Haaland and the rest of the City squad will be doing their part to ensure that it doesn't happen.