Erling Haaland’s standing among the Premier League’s elite comes with a surprising twist.
Renowned as one of the deadliest strikers globally, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has built a formidable reputation for his goal-scoring prowess over recent years.
In the previous season alone, the Norwegian sensation notched an astonishing 51 goals in 52 appearances, setting a new record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League campaign with 36 strikes.
This season, Haaland continues to lead the race for the Golden Boot, currently topping the scoring charts with 18 goals. However, despite his impressive tally, there’s a sense that he hasn’t quite reached the remarkable heights of the previous season, albeit still performing exceptionally well.
Last season, Haaland’s ability to convert almost every opportunity into a goal seemed almost mechanical, whereas this term, he has notably missed several clear-cut chances.
His glaring miss in front of an open goal during City’s 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday serves as the latest example of this.
To highlight Haaland’s relative struggles, it’s revealed that he ranks among the Premier League’s top three players for a rather undesirable statistic.
As pointed out by X, Haaland finds himself among the top three players for scoring below open-play expected goals (xG) in the Premier League during the 2023-24 season. Expected goals gauge the quality of a scoring chance by estimating the likelihood of it being converted based on historical data of similar opportunities.
Haaland’s open-play xG deficit of -2.6, indicating that he should have scored at least two more goals from open play than he has, places him third highest in the Premier League this season.
In second place on this ranking is Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson with -4.3, while Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewis leads the pack by a considerable margin with a staggering -6.2.
Over his last four full league seasons with Borussia Dortmund and City, Haaland has surpassed his open-play xG by 17.7.
While this season represents a significant deviation from the norm, what’s alarming for City’s rivals is that Haaland’s dip in performance hasn’t prevented him from dominating the scoring charts.
