Manchester City have gotten off to a flying start to the Premier League with wins against Chelsea, Ipswich and West Ham, giving them 9 points and the perfect start.
There is one man who has been integral to Man City’s success in the recent past and has been the spearhead for Pep Guardiola’s men this season, it’s none other than Erling Haaland.
With each passing game, Haaland continues to assert himself as one of the most prolific scorers the league has ever seen.
The Norwegian brute has bagged 7 goals already in 3 games, owing to hat-tricks against both Ipswich and West Ham. He’s looked hungry for goals since the league got underway and is chasing the record for scoring the most hat-tricks in the quickest time.
He sits 4th on the list chasing down another City legend in Aguero who scored 12 hat-tricks in 275 games. Putting Haaland’s numbers in the picture, he has 8 hat tricks in 69 games, on track to shatter Aguero’s record.
On the contrary to this electric start, are the Toffees. Sean Dyche’s side have gotten off to an abysmal start, with no wins in their first 3 games, putting them bottom of the table. The most shocking of these losses came against Bournemouth at home, a collapse from leading 2-0 to losing 3-2 in the span of 10 minutes.
Everton, who were one of the best defences in the league towards the end of last season, have carried none of that promise into the start of the new season.
Thanks to this lacklustre start, some eye-popping stats have emerged comparing Haaland and Everton that are likely to surprise you.
Everton fans might want to look away now!
At the time of writing, since Haaland’s arrival in Manchester in August 2022, the Everton squad over the years has managed to amass 90 goals, while the goal machine Erling Haaland has alone netted 94 times.
Apart from highlighting the individual talent of Haaland, it also emphasises the contrasting performances and fortunes of the two sides. Haaland hit the ground running as soon as he stepped foot in the Etihad and has dominated goalscoring in the Prem since his arrival.
Bagging 35 goals in his record breaking debut season, Haaland outscored the Everton team by 1 who sat on 34 in a season of survival for the Toffees who finished 17th
Some might not be surprised by this stat, as Haaland is surrounded by some of the world’s best playmakers and creators of in world football like De Bruyne and Foden whereas Everton are a side who shape up extremely defensive under Dyche and create few chances.
To drive Haaland’s individual capabilities and dominance into perspective using another outrageous statistic, consider this: since the start of the 2022/23 season, Haaland has registered 18 Premier League matches where he’s scored two or more goals. Everton, as a team, has managed just 17 such matches.
This stat alone encapsulates the enormity of Haaland’s impact and Everton’s decline from an established mid table side to relegation contenders. It also puts into picture how Haaland has left not just other strikers, but entire teams behind.
As Manchester City marches on, with Haaland leading the charge, the question now becomes: how far can Haaland take this? The striker is a known game changer and a terror to any defence, with CIty firing on all cylinders and Haaland at his peak, the sky’s the limit.
