What makes record-breaker Haaland such a phenomenal goalscorer?

"With such an incredible goalscoring record, it makes sense to consider the Manchester City striker an unbelievable finisher. But Haaland's finishing is not what makes him a phenomenal goalscorer. Given the quantity and quality of chances that Haaland has had since joining the Premier League in 2022, the average player historically would have scored about 84 goals, meaning that the Norwegian's finishing being above-average accounts for just four of his incredible goals tally (and just two if you exclude penalties)."

"Haaland's critics might jump on this as proof that anyone could score bundles of goals if they played up front for Manchester City. But what that fails to recognise is that no other player would get as many and as good chances as Haaland does because they're not as strong, fast or tall as he is. Nor do they have the incredible movement, anticipation and reflexes that he does that make him such an unmanageable monstrosity for defenders."

"While obviously playing for Pep Guardiola's side means he gets great service from his team-mates, if we compare his non-penalty numbers to another world-class striker who's played there - Sergio Aguero - Haaland's brilliance in getting great chances becomes clear. Despite shooting more often than Haaland, Aguero didn't score as many goals and, looking at their shot conversion rates, it seems that the Norwegian was simply more clinical."

Erling Haaland has set prolific scoring benchmarks, including 88 goals in his first 100 Premier League games and 46 goals in 45 matches for Norway. Expected-goals analysis suggests the average player would have scored about 84 goals from Haaland's Premier League chances, so his above-average finishing explains only a small portion of his total (four goals, two excluding penalties). Top scorers benefit from high-quality opportunities, and Haaland's strength, pace, height, movement, anticipation and reflexes generate superior chances. Non-penalty comparisons with Sergio Aguero underline Haaland's ability to obtain and convert higher-quality chances despite elite peers.

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