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Four of the astir in-form strikers successful satellite shot volition look to adhd to their red-hot starts to the World Cup this week
By
Football issues correspondent
A World Cup is ever that small spot much peculiar erstwhile the game's prima names travel to the party.
And past week 4 of football's elite strikers announced their accomplishment successful devastating fashion.
It was arsenic though each was spurred connected by the show of the others.
Paris St-Germain's Kylian Mbappe got the shot rolling by scoring doubly successful France's 3-1 triumph implicit Senegal.
That was emulated a mates of hours aboriginal by Manchester City's Erling Haaland successful Norway's 4-1 triumph implicit Iraq.
Then measurement guardant Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami attacker proving his enduring people with a hat-trick arsenic Argentina bushed Algeria 3-0.
Bayern Munich's Harry Kane past netted doubly arsenic England bushed Croatia 4-2.
Could this beryllium the tourney of the prima striker? And if you're up against them, however bash you program to halt them?
Four precise antithetic players, with contrasting styles but who are arsenic effective.
Former Everton and Wales defender Ashley Williams told BBC Sport however you mightiness support against them.
On Messi: Push him into comfy areas
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Lionel Messi has scored 120 goals successful 200 games for Argentina
Next game: Austria, Monday 18:00 BST
Messi turns 39 connected Wednesday, but you would not cognize it from his show against Algeria.
The forward's treble took him level with Germany's Miroslav Klose arsenic the World Cup's all-time apical scorer connected 16 goals - though Mbappe is conscionable 2 behind.
With Messi connected this benignant of form, and connected 120 planetary goals, however bash you halt him successful his tracks?
"It's much of a squad effort," Williams said. "I ever felt being a defender that you are hoping for a spot of luck.
"You've got to screen each your bases, which mightiness beryllium getting choky arsenic a defender, oregon dropping disconnected and letting your midfield get tight.
"Try arsenic champion you tin to propulsion him into comfy areas with your assemblage shape, your distancing and your angles of approach.
"He's 1 of those players wherever if you person to prime a poison, accidental you'd alternatively idiosyncratic other instrumentality the changeable than him."
Williams added that forcing an attacker onto their weaker ft would person constricted occurrence with Messi.
"He seems to instrumentality power successful possession, nary substance wherever you effort to propulsion him retired to," Williams said.
"He's got the debased centre of gravity, large balance, his interaction is exceptional, truthful helium tin manipulate the shot and get you into a spot you don't want."
On Mbappe: You enactment locked successful with him
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Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick successful the 2022 World Cup final, which France mislaid connected penalties to Argentina
Next game: Iraq, Monday 22:00 BST
Williams has first-hand acquisition of Mbappe from his ain playing days with Wales.
In November 2017, erstwhile Mbappe was a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Williams had to support tabs connected the striker for 84 minutes of an planetary affable successful Paris.
Mbappe did not score, but helium did supply the assistance for Olivier Giroud to implicit a 2-0 victory.
By coincidence, the 27-year-old's brace against Senegal took him past Giroud to go France's all-time apical scorer connected 58 goals.
"He was precise hard to play against," Williams said.
"Mbappe is much nonstop than Messi. Not to accidental that he's better, but he's arsenic arsenic hard to support against.
"When Mbappe dribbles, it's usually with much pace. The mode helium volition manoeuvre the shot to wherever helium wants, successful a twist and turn, is with much intensity.
"When you're playing against a striker that is usually 100 miles an hour, you enactment successful that bushed arsenic well. You're defending astatine that pace, whereas Messi volition dilatory you down and past velocity you up.
"I'd astir apt alternatively play against Mbappe, due to the fact that you enactment locked successful with him."
France person specified an array of world-class attacking talent, determination is not conscionable Mbappe to deliberation about.
"You'll bash your homework, and spot what benignant of runs players similar to make," Williams added.
"Michael Olise likes to travel wrong connected his near ft a small spot more, which past mightiness acceptable disconnected a tally from Ousmane Dembele oregon Mbappe, truthful they volition person trends that volition beryllium studied.
"If you absorption each your attraction connected Mbappe, immoderate of the others volition wounded you.
"As a corporate unit, you request to beryllium moving unneurotic connected the aforesaid page."
On Haaland: You've got to halt the balls successful behind
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Erling Haaland's Norway volition travel up against Kylian Mbappe and France successful the last radical signifier game
Next game: Senegal, Tuesday 01:00 BST
Haaland had to hold until the property of 25 not conscionable to marque his World Cup debut, but his planetary tourney bow too.
And the Leeds-born striker is intelligibly anxious to marque up for mislaid time.
"He's the other of Mbappe and Messi," Williams said. "He'll bushed you without the ball, which makes it adjacent much dangerous.
"You privation to assistance your midfield by squeezing up, truthful they don't person to screen excessively overmuch distance.
"But arsenic soon arsenic you permission the abstraction successful behind, he's going to exploit that consecutive away."
One of the keys to limiting Haaland's influence, Williams says, is to forestall his squad mates getting the shot to him.
"You've got to halt the balls successful down archetypal and foremost," Williams said. "Stop the proviso going into him.
"If you tin play your distances betwixt your midfield and bounds his chances, you've got fractional a chance.
"There's not galore times erstwhile helium really drops in, gets the ball, beats 4 players, and scores his ain goal, truthful helium does provender disconnected what he's getting served."
Haaland is the astir objective of the four, with 57 goals successful conscionable 51 caps.
"He's much lethal," Williams added. "If helium gets a chance, it's astir apt going to beryllium a goal."
What astir dealing with Haaland 1 connected one?
"Around the box, you've got to get choky and effort to get him connected his close foot," Williams said.
"Then you're conscionable going to person to beryllium arsenic beardown arsenic you can, don't beryllium clever, conscionable get the shot distant and bargain time."
On Kane: His shooting is arguably the champion retired of each these players
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Harry Kane scored doubly against Croatia to instrumentality his tally for England to 81 goals successful 115 caps
Next game: Ghana, Tuesday 21:00 BST
Kane, 32, is nary alien to Williams, with the England skipper having scored 5 goals for Tottenham against Williams' Swansea and Everton sides astir 10 years ago.
But the Harry Kane of 2026 is simply a precise antithetic subordinate to 2016.
"He was a small spot much mobile and spot quicker," Williams said. "He'd tally successful down a spot more.
"Now he's not going to bushed you successful the dribble, truthful you've got to get up choky and not fto him shoot.
"His shooting is arguably the champion retired of each these players."
Kane, present connected 81 goals for England, shows existent willingness to driblet deep, and helium tin often beryllium recovered adjacent the halfway enactment oregon adjacent successful his ain half.
"It's that constituent of Kane's crippled that sets him apart," Williams said.
"Against Croatia, helium dropped into midfield a batch to usage his qualities, his passing range.
"I'd enactment successful defence and pass with midfield. As soon arsenic helium gets to a point, it would beryllium their occupation to people him, and I'd effort to enactment successful a deeper presumption to screen the spread and beyond.
"I would beryllium speaking to my antiaircraft midfielder and saying 'I cognize you mightiness beryllium overloaded with your ain antheral and Kane if helium drops in, but we tin unrecorded with that one'."
Kane's relation presents a antithetic challenge, allowing Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon to exploit the space.
"[The runners] would beryllium the priority," Williams said. "It wouldn't needfully beryllium closing down Kane successful midfield, particularly from a defender's constituent of view.
"It's precise hard to play against a squad that are going some ways. What we can't unrecorded with is if there's gaps successful the backmost enactment and with runners successful behind.
"From an England constituent of presumption I deliberation that's astir apt their biggest weapon."
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