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Erling Haaland scored his 26th Premier League goal of the season in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over title rivals Arsenal on Wednesday.
The prolific Norwegian reached the milestone in just 22 appearances, meaning he is averaging 1.18 goals per game and 1.32 goals per 90 minutes in 2022-23.
.@ErlingHaaland‘s 32nd goal of the season! ? pic.twitter.com/6IUnUSBYm9
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 16, 2023
With 17 goals to his name, Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane finds himself second on the Golden Boot leaderboard, while Brentford’s Ivan Toney (14), Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford (12) and Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic (11) round out the top five.
However, Haaland is in a league of his own when it comes to scoring goals, and the 22-year-old is well on his way to breaking the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season.
Andrew Cole and Alan Shearer currently hold the record, having netted 34 goals in 1993-94 and 1994-95, respectively, although both men achieved that feat during a 42-game season.
When it comes to the current-day 38-game season, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah holds the record, having scored 32 goals in 36 appearances during the 2017-18 campaign.
Given that Man City still have 15 league games left this term, Haaland has plenty of time to surpass Salah’s tally before setting his sights on Cole and Shearer’s record.
Remarkably, Haaland has already scored more goals than 24 of the previous 38 Premier League Golden Boot winners, while he has already matched the tallies of Robin van Persie (2012-13) and Sergio Aguero (2014-15).
It is worth noting that no player has broken the one-goal-per-game mark in the history of the Premier League. Harry Kane came close in 2016-17 when he scored 29 goals in 30 games (0.97), while Luis Suarez netted 31 goals in 33 games back in 2013-14 (0.94).
That said, if Haaland continued to score at his current rate, he would finish the campaign with 44.84 goals, making him the most prolific Premier League Golden Boot winner of all time.
Haaland has bagged four hat-tricks this season, in addition to three braces, while his tally across all competitions stands at 32 goals in 30 appearances.
The lethal marksman has already broken countless records this term, including the fastest player to reach 10, 20 and 25 Premier League goals, and he looks destined to break many more before the campaign ends.
If he carries on the way he’s going, there is no denying that Haaland will break the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League season.
