How does Haaland score so many goals 

 

He's come into this Manchester City team and has looked great ever since, the evolution of Erling Haaland has been a joy to watch. From his days at Molde and RB Salzburg to Champions League records at Borussia Dortmund and now at City, the Norwegian striker has torn up the script wherever he's been, scored against some of the biggest teams in Europe and rewritten the classic number 9 role. A bargain at just over £50 million, he's already got 23 goals in all competitions and isn't showing signs of stopping, but how dies he do this? I've watched enough of Haaland to understand how he scores week in, week out, and the answer is so simple you probably wouldn't believe me. 

 

So how does Haaland score so much?

Put simply, he stays between the posts. Alongside his superhuman strength, speed and finishing, he stays inbetween the goalposts. This gives him the best possible chances to finish his shots, but it's his clinical ability to do so that gives him an advantage over over forwards. According to fbref, Erling Haaland has managed a combined Xg (expected goals) of 11.0 from 12 matches, 11 starts. That tells us that, in theory, he should be scoring at least one goal in every Premier League match he starts. But that doesn't explain how he has 18 goals, you may ask. Well I had a look at players similar, and frankly they just aren't as clinical. Dusan Vlahovic of Juventus, a player that fbref claims is similar, has scored six goals from 10 matches, amassing 4.3 Xg along the way. Robert Lewandowski has 13 goals from 13 starts and an Xg of 10.3. Frankly, overperforming your Xg is the easy part. Scoring like Haaland's rate, however, only the best can do that. 

 

Frankly, if Haaland keeps scoring at this rate, he could end up with over fifty goals this season, and to be honest it wouldn't suprise me. He combines clinical finishing with great positional sense to simply outdo everyone. Manchester City should have their eyes on the titles this season, for Haaland, he could be looking at much more.