To say Erling Haaland has lived up to the lofty pre-season expectations would be an understatement. With a record 35 Premier League goals this season with three games still remaining (at the time of writing), along with a further 16 goals across all competitions – the Norwegian phenom has quickly established himself as arguably the best finisher in football since joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in the offseason.
Unsurprisingly, due to his form, Haaland is garnering an incredibly short price when looking at the epl top goalscorer odds.
Whether it be his awareness in the box, rocket left foot or freakish athleticism – the six-feet-four-inch striker has taken English football by storm – and with City needing just one win from their final three fixtures – it appears all but certain the 22-year-old will become a champion in just his first season with the Sky Blues.
If Haaland were to stay in the English top-flight long-term and produce multiple seasons similar to his 2022/23 campaign, he has the potential to go down as one of the greatest Premier League players in history.
However, the ‘Prem’ is incredibly competitive and boasts exceptional depth – therefore – maintaining this level of excellence consistently year on year is easier said than done. That begs the question, is there a possibility that Haaland could suffer from second-year syndrome next season? The question seems ridiculous on its face – as it is far more likely that he will continue to improve in a system as accomplished as City.
With that being said, we have seen many athletes across a multitude of sports experience a downturn in their second season with a particular club. With each Premier League team now having played Haaland this season, theoretically speaking, they should be more familiar with his game.
As a result, you would imagine opposing teams will put in a lot more time and effort when preparing for Haaland in fixtures to come. They’ll know more about what his strengths and weakness are and gameplan accordingly.
However, can you gameplan for an otherworldly talent like Haaland? Couple that with the fact he is surrounded by a crop of world class teammates in Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez to name a few, and focusing all of your attention on limiting Haaland’s damage could very well prove counterintuitive.
Despite all of that, whether or not Haaland could regress next season is an interesting discussion nonetheless. It’s reminiscent of some of the doubts that followed him from the Bundesliga. Although he came to the Premier League with plenty of expectation and pressure, there were still a sizeable group of fans and pundits who believed he may have been overhyped.
He was exceptional in Dortmund, scoring 62 goals in 67 appearances in three seasons with the German giants – however – some felt he wouldn’t be able to replicate that kind of goalscoring record in a league as deep as the Premier League. They were proven wrong, as he is scoring at an even greater clip in England than he did in Germany.
With all of that in mind, even with more pressure on him to perform next season, it remains unlikely that Haaland will succumb to a downturn of any note – and as he continues to improve on his game and grow into his physique more – it’s amazing to think how great a player Haaland could be three years from now. For those following the football tips for today – City’s final three league games will come against Chelsea, Brighton and Brentford.
