Haaland's impressive scoring efficiency
After 6 Premier League games this season, Erling Haaland is averaging 1.42 goals per 90 minutes.
To put it simply, only 6 Premier League clubs - Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Brentford and Brighton - have an average of more goals per 90 minutes than Haaland.
When he broke his record for goals in the Premier League last three seasons, Haaland scored an average of just 1.17 goals per 90 minutes. His career average at Man City was 0.98, while at Dortmund was 1.00.
The real numbers that compare his current form are the statistics for half a season against FC Salzburg in Austria. At that time, Haaland scored an average of 1.47 goals per 90 minutes.
However, that was for a team that dominated the tournament, where the whole team scored 110 goals, while the second-placed team did not exceed 69 goals. Haaland is now at the same number in the Premier League - the most competitive tournament in the world.
Haaland is even playing more effectively than he was at Salzburg. This season, he has scored without a penalty. If penalties are ruled out, his Salzburg average will fall to 1.38 goals per 90 minutes.
In fact, only one player in the history of modern football has achieved a high number of non-penalty goals like Haaland. Among the players who have played at least 500 minutes in European top 5 tournaments since the early 1990s, only Lionel Messi in 2012 2013 (42 goals not including penalties for Barcelona) has achieved a slightly better rate: 1.43 goals per 90 minutes.
Haaland is carrying Man City
After 6 Premier League games this season, Man City have created 11.41 expected goals (xG, excluding penalties) - nearly one more than second-placed Crystal Palace (10.6). Overall, The Citizens are the most dangerous attacking team in England.
However, this also means that Haaland himself contributed up to 65.5% of the team's xG. Nearly two-thirds of Man City's total scoring opportunities come from his feet or head. Compared to the 2009-10 season, the highest xG achieved by a Premier League player was just 45.4%.
The same is true for shots, even at a lower level. Haaland has taken 37% of Man City's total shots to date, while the previous record from the 2009-2020 season was just 32.3%.
While previous teams have relied on one player for a large number of shots, no one in the Premier League has been as proficient as Haaland in both the number and quality of shots.
Compared outside England, in the 2010-11 season, Cristiano Ronaldo made 39.1% of Real Madrid's total shots. He had four other seasons reaching a rate of 34% or more at the Bernabeu, and then repeated this for Juventus in the 2019-2020 season.
Lionel Messi has also surpassed the 34% mark four times for Barcelona. In addition, no player in any other team has done this even once.
However, that is just a statistic of the number of shots. When including quality, Haaland's current rate is unique. The second highest was last season's Moise Kean, with 46.8% xG for Fiorentina.
