Can anyone stop Eric Haaland? The Norwegian has been on an unbelievable tear with Manchester City in just the first two months of the season. City signed Haaland in May for 51.1 million euros including the 85.5 million paid for his release clause from Dortmund.
Haaland burst on to the scene in 2019 after completing a move to Borussia Dortmund from FC Salzburg. In the three-seasons spent in Germany, Haaland scored 88 goals in all competitions. He scored 62 goals in the Bundesliga and ended up scoring the third most goals in the last two seasons.
Haaland also scored 15 goals in the Champions League, including 10 during the 2020-21 season. He was the top goal scorer of the Champions League that season. The young striker also helped Dortmund win the DFB-Pokal Cup (German Cup) in 2021. Haaland was named in the Bundesliga team of the season twice and was UEFA forward of the year for 2020-21.
Heading into the start of the new season with City, Haaland had low expectations. Many thought he was going to take longer to adjust to the Premiere League. He has over exceeded all expectations and has transitioned extremely well into the Premier League. Seems like he is playing in a league of his own with 15 goals in just nine games so far. He is currently on pace to break the league’s single season scoring record with 34, held by Alan Shearer back in 1994-95.
What makes Haaland an even dangerous player is he does not require many touches or passes on the ball to score. He only averages 11 passes a game while averaging 4.2 shots (2.3 on target) a match. With incredible instincts and knowing where to be at the right place at the right time, this makes it very hard to stop Eric Haaland. He is also keeping this dominate run during the Champions League with five goals so far in group play. His is just 5 goals away from his career high for the Champions League.
So can anyone stop Haaland? In the Premiere League the one game he had failed to score against was Bournemouth during Week 2. He had six games of multiple goals scored, including a hattrick again Manchester United. He had back-to-back hattricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest earlier in the season. Haaland also scored twice against Sevilla and scored against his former club during the Champions League. City are set to face Liverpool this weekend, and with Liverpool’s struggles, Haaland will come out in full force and will be a danger to their defense.
He has yet to face Chelsea, Tottenham or top of the table Arsenal yet. The one concern for fans is since Norway will not be in the World Cup, he will have a full month off. This may slow him down, but regardless the dangers he has already cost this season will continue as he looks to break several records at just the age of 22. He is also a heavy candidate for the Ballon D’oro for next season if he keeps up this form throughout the year.
