Erling Haaland: Decoding his performance ahead of the Manchester derby
Sunday sees rivals Manchester City and Manchester United fight it out at the Etihad in a crucial Premier League encounter. For Manchester United, the biggest concern is how can they stop Erling Haaland? Haaland has been an absolute peach so far in all competitions for City and his Premier League numbers have taken everyone by storm. Here we decode his performance.
Why does this story matter?
Erik ten Hag has helped United find some steel after losing the first two league games. United have won four on the trot since then, beating two big rivals in the form of Liverpool and Arsenal. Away from home, United have beaten Southampton and Leicester City, keeping clean sheets. But keeping Haaland quiet is a major challenge for United as he can create problems.
11 goals already in 7 PL games
In seven Premier League matches for far, Haaland has already netted 11 goals, clocking the best returns by a player in PL history in this timeline. In between this run, Haaland has scored back-to-back hat-tricks during wins over Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest at the Etihad. Haaland (26) is also just the second player after Aleksander Mitrovic (28) in terms of clocking 25-plus shots.
Best ratio in terms of goals per 90 minutes
As per Sky Sports, Haaland has a ratio of 1.72 goals per 90 minutes which is more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues this season to have played in excess of 126 minutes.
Where can Haaland be dangerous?
Haaland is a poacher and has six goals from inside the six-yard box. With Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Bernardo Silva in support, United will need to stop them from finding the perfect deliveries for the former Borussia Dortmund striker. Haaland is also very dangerous when firing to the left side of the goal. He has scored six of seven shots on target.
14 goals for Man City in 10 games
Haaland scored 14 goals for Manchester City in his first 10 games before the international break. Beside his 11 goals in the PL, he has also netted three in the Champions League from just two games. He also has recorded one assist so far.
Breaking down Haaland's numbers in the Premier League
Haaland has played a total of 575 minutes so far in the Premier League. He has attempted 91 passes, completing 72. He has a pass accuracy of 79.12%. 10 of his 11 goals have come from inside the box. He has scored one penalty and two headers. He has made one tackle, completed four take-ons, winning two aerial, and 10 ground duels.
Premier League: Haaland sets these new records
As per Opta, Haaland became the first player in Premier League history to score in each of his first four away games in the competition after netting a goal versus Wolves. Earlier against Nottingham Forest, Haaland (9) set a new competition record as he surpassed Mick Quinn and Sergio Aguero (both 8) in terms of most goals in the first five Premier League appearances.
With successive hat-tricks, Haaland smashed this record
Haaland registered two successive hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest respectively. As per Squawka, only six players have scored hat-tricks in consecutive Premier League appearances: Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane (twice), and Haaland.
Haaland became fastest player to reach 25 Champions League goals
City thrashed Sevilla in their opening UCL encounter. Haaland scored a brace for Pep Guardiola's side. Haaland became the fastest player in UCL history to reach the landmark of 25 goals. He has taken 20 UCL matches to reach the milestone, breaking the previously held record by Ruud van Nisterlrooy and F Inzaghi. Both these players had taken 30 matches to reach 25 goals.
