Haaland makes Premier League history against Liverpool

The Manchester City striker became the fastest man to score 50 Premier League goals with the opener in their 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Saturday.

Haaland has not just broken that record, he has shattered it into tiny smithereens, taking just 48 league games to reach the milestone.

The previous record holder, Andrew Cole, needed 65 games to reach that landmark. Alan Shearer – still the all-time record Premier League scorer – took 66 matches.

It is just the latest record broken by Haaland, who has not stopped scoring for City since his switch from Borussia Dortmund last summer.

His 36 goals in the Premier League last season was the most in a single campaign, including the first three years of the competition where teams played 42 matches.

Haaland, who was a doubt to face Liverpool after picking up an injury on international duty with Norway, has now scored 14 goals this season, four ahead of Mohamed Salah.

He is averaging 1.13 goals per game in the league this season, and has attempted a league-high 43 shots – 67% of them on target, 33% finding the net.

Haaland has scored the most goals across the big five European leagues – Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and Ligue 1 – since the start of last season.

His 50 goals from 48 matches puts him ahead of Harry Kane, who has scored 48 goals in 50 matches for Tottenham and Bayern Munich.

Kylian Mbappe, the only other man to have a goal record in the top European leagues anywhere close to Haaland, has a comparatively measly 43 goals in his past 46 games for Paris St-Germain.

Aside from sheer volume, what stands out from Haaland’s first 50 goals in the Premier League is how unvaried they are. He is terrifyingly predictable – teams know what he will do, stopping him is another matter.

Of those 50 goals, just two have been scored outside the penalty area. Of the 48 inside the box, 33 have been scored with his left foot, six with his right and 10 headers.

Haaland appropriately scored his landmark goal against Liverpool with a left-footed strike from inside the area.