UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
Erling Haaland has had a very peculiar first season in English football. He has scored an incredible 39 goals in all competitions so far this season yet there have been many pundits in recent weeks claiming that he doesn’t fit in at Manchester City.
While City have struggled at times this season, it feels somewhat lazy to pin all the blame on Haaland particularly as he has been so prolific in front of goal. With a whole host of records in his sights, the one that would arguably be the most impressive would be if he was to break Dixie Dean’s record of having scored the most goals for an English team across all competitions.
In the 1927/28 season, Dean scored an incredible 63 goals in one season for Everton across all competitions. He scored a mammoth 60 goals in the league and a further three in the FA Cup. While the 60-league-goal target is unlikely to ever be matched in England, Haaland has a legitimate chance of matching the 63 goals Dean scored in all competitions.
What Haaland needs to do to get the record
After scoring five goals in Manchester City’s 7-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League last night, Haaland has given himself a legitimate shot at reaching 60+ goals for the season. Two significant factors will play a part in how close he gets, though.
🚨 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗: Erling Haaland has now scored 39 goals this season for Manchester City, a new club-record. ⚽ pic.twitter.com/EuYVarRL7y
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) March 14, 2023
Firstly, the Norweigan striker will need to stay fit. In recent seasons, he has faced a number of persistent injuries while playing for Borussia Dortmund but is yet to face any significant injuries in Manchester. Whether that means one is just around the corner or not remains to be seen but Guardiola has seemingly managed his star man’s fitness superbly in his debut season.
The second critical factor is all down to how City get on in the two cup competitions that they are still in. If they make it all the way to the final in both the FA Cup and Champions League then their season still has 19 games left. If they get knocked out at the next possible stage of both competitions then they only have 14 games left.
With 24 goals needed to match Dixie Dean’s record, he is likely going to need more than 14 games if he is to do it which means City need to continue their recent good form. The good news for Haaland is that if keeps scoring then City are likely to keep progressing in each competition which is going to give him the best chance possible to put his name in the history books.
City’s upcoming schedule
Since losing to Tottenham at the start of February, Pep Guardiola’s men have turned a corner and are looking more and more like their old selves with each passing week. Next up for them is their FA Cup quarter-final against Burnley at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The match sees former captain, Vincent Kompany, returned “home” for the first time since leaving for Anderlecht in 2019.
After that, much of the squad will go away for two weeks to fulfil their international duties before returning to Manchester at the start of April. City will then face Liverpool in a huge game at the Etihad Stadium before getting stuck into their Champions League quarter-final.
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
