Haaland closes in on three records as he eyes Golden Boot

Erling Haaland has had such a powerful impact in his debut season that he is just as close to breaking a 29-year Premier League record as he is to being caught in the race for the Castrol Golden Boot.

Race for the Golden Boot

With 28 strikes in the competition, the Manchester City striker has a seven-goal lead at the top of the 2022/23 scoring chart, ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane.

Meanwhile, Haaland is just four off Mohamed Salah’s record total for a 38-match season, and seven goals away from surpassing the all-time record.

Andrew Cole struck 34 times across a 42-match campaign in 1993/94, while Alan Shearer equalled that mark the following season.

With 28 goals in 26 appearances this campaign, Haaland averages 1.1 goals per Premier League match. If he maintains that rate across Man City’s final 11 fixtures, he would score another 12 times and reach a total of 40.

That would be 10 more than the current record for a player in their debut Premier League season, after Kevin Phillips netted 30 times for Sunderland in 1999/2000.

Haaland’s remaining PL fixtures*

*Man City’s fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion is yet to be confirmed

Haaland would break Phillips’ record with a hat-trick against Liverpool in his next outing.

If he is able to shake off a groin strain and face the Reds, that treble is well within his capabilities given he has struck eight goals in his last two matches across all competitions.

Liverpool will have something to say about that though, having conceded just one goal in their last six league matches.

But either way, Haaland will back himself to score in his following two matches against Southampton and Leicester City, who are both battling relegation.

Can Kane catch up?

Kane will hope Haaland slows up as he chases a fourth Golden Boot, which would equal a record currently held by Thierry Henry.

The Spurs striker can count himself very unlucky to be so far behind in the race. His tally of 21 goals this season would have been enough to win the award in five Premier League campaigns, and he is only two strikes away from reaching the total that won the prize last season.

Kane’s remaining PL fixtures

Two of Kane’s next three fixtures are against teams in the bottom six, with matches against Everton and AFC Bournemouth coming either side of a home meeting with Brighton.

But he then faces a tricky run, taking on Newcastle United, Manchester United and Liverpool in succession.

Next: The race for the Castrol Golden Glove is heating up