When can Erling Haaland break the record for most Premier League goals in a season?
Erling Haaland is well on his way to break the record for most goals in a Premier League season, but what exactly is that record?
The Norwegian has taken to English football like a superpowered duck to water, getting 30 goals in his first 27 league games for Manchester City.
All the talk now is about when, rather than if, he'll score more goals this season than any player has before across a campaign, so let's take a look at the numbers he's chasing.
The most Premier League goals scored in a 42-game season
The Premier League consisted of 22 teams in the first three seasons of its existence, giving players more games to find the back of the net in.
Andy Cole and Alan Shearer did so more often than any other players during a single league campaign, with the former getting 34 goals for Newcastle in 1993/94 and the latter equalling that tally for Blackburn the following season.
Shearer broke the 30-goal barrier the season before his best one too, scoring 31 times, but nobody else was able to do so in that three-season era.
The most Premier League goals scored in a 38-game season
Since the summer of 1995, each team has played four fewer matches each season with only 20 teams in the league.
Largely because of that, nobody has been able to break the record shared by Cole and Shearer, but a number of players have come close.
Mohamed Salah so nearly did so in 2017/18, scoring 32 goals in 36 games for Liverpool in what was one of the best individual seasons ever.
He's not the only Liverpool forward to threaten to break the record with Luis Suarez bagging 31 goals in 2013/14, with Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo matching that tally in 1995/96 and 2006/07 respectively.
Harry Kane, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie and Kevin Phillips all hit 30 in a season, with nobody else reaching that milestone.
The most goals scored in a Premier League season
Player | Goals |
|---|---|
Andy Cole (1993/94)* | 34 |
Alan Shearer (1994/95)* | 34 |
Mohamed Salah (2017/18) | 32 |
Luis Suarez (2013/14) | 31 |
Cristiano Ronaldo (2007/08) | 31 |
Alan Shearer (1995/96) | 31 |
Alan Shearer(1993/94)* | 31 |
Thierry Henry (2003/04) | 30 |
Harry Kane (2017/18) | 30 |
Robin van Persie (2011/12) | 30 |
Kevin Phillips (1999/00) | 30 |
Erling Haaland (2022/23 - ongoing) | 30 |
*goals scored in a 42-game season
Will Erling Haaland break the record?
Injuries and drops in form can happen, but if he continues at his current rate, Haaland will smash the record set by Cole and Shearer.
After 27 Premier League matches, the Man City striker has 30 goals to his name and has failed to score in just nine league appearances. After the same amount of matches in their record-breaking seasons, Cole and Shearer had 26 and 24 goals respectively.
If he continues at his current - and plays all of City's remaining games - Haaland will end this campaign with 40 goals and write his name into the history books.