Can Erling Haaland Exceed 40 Premier League Goals This Season?
Can Erling Haaland Exceed 40 Premier League Goals This Season?
Who is Erling Haaland?
Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian international striker who is currently playing for Manchester City in the Premier League. The 24-year-old forward was born in Leeds, UK and is the son of former professional footballer Alfie Haaland, who enjoyed a successful spell in the Premier League with Leeds and Manchester City.
He came through the youth academy at Bryne in Norway before moving to Molde. Following spells at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, he was signed by Manchester City for a fee of 60m euros.
He is widely considered to be one of the best players in world football and although he is yet to secure the Ballon d’Or, he has been on the shortlist on multiple occasions. He has won several awards including the 2020 Golden Boy, and he has also been included in the FIFA FIFPro World 11 on three occasions.
Haaland has represented Norway at various levels, although his goalscoring exploits have failed to propel his country to a major tournament so far.
William Hill’s Odds of 7/5 are predicting a 41.7% chance that Erling Haaland will score 38 or more league goals during the 2024-25 Premier League season ::: Discover the current Odds now HERE
Style of Play
Haaland is renowned for his strength, speed and positioning and is a seasoned finisher. His physical strength allows his to dominate the opposition defence, yet he also has the intelligence to drift in front of centre backs as he receives the ball which often puts them off their stride.
He is also extremely adept as timing his runs, ensuring that he rarely gets caught offside. He is an instinctive player who has the ability to find space in congested areas. He is also able to regularly cut across defenders by angling his body to ensure the ball is received in front of him. He will then use his explosive pace to beat them for pace.
What Records Has Haaland Broken?
During his debut Premier League campaign, Haaland plundered 52 goals across all competitions and he also broke the record for the most goals scored in a single domestic campaign – 36.
Furthermore, he became the first player to be awarded both the Young Player and Player of the Season in a single campaign.
He is the quickest individual to score two, three, four and five hat-tricks. As of September 2024, he has netted a total of 11 hat-tricks for Manchester City. In October 2022, he became the first top flight player to score three consecutive home hat-tricks after netting against Crystal Palace, West Ham and Manchester United.
Unfortunately, he just fell short of breaking a record which has stood since 1946, when he notched just twice against Brentford at the beginning of September. He has previously fired in back-t0-back hat-tricks against Ipswich and West Ham.
Haaland is also Norway’s all-time top goalscorer despite only representing his nation for five years.
Premier League Record
Erling Haaland boasts an outstanding Premier League record and as of November 28th, he has 12 goals in the top flight.
He fired in 36 goals during his inaugural Premier League season following by 27 during the 2023-24 campaign. His second season in the UK was disrupted by a few short spells on sidelines.
Is he Likely to Surpass his Previous Totals?
With 12 goals in as many Premier League appearances, Haaland is on target to hit around 35 goals during the 2024-25 season. However, City have struggled for form throughout November and he is unlikely to remain completely injury-free throughout the entire campaign.
Nevertheless, if Pep Guardiola’s side fall behind in the title race, the boss is unlikely to rest and rotate players during the hectic festive period. This is likely to result in plenty of gametime for Haaland and he should be able to bag a few doubles and trebles.