In case you hadn’t noticed, Erling Haaland has virtually secured this year’s golden boot in just six matches wearing sky blue and barring an unexpected injury, he shows no signs of slowing down.
The 22-year-old Norwegian has already bagged 10 goals and an assist in the league and a baker’s dozen in all competitions for Manchester City this season.
And we’re only in September.
Every type of goal – and plenty of them
So far, his highlights include scoring a game-winning brace against West Ham, as well as back-to-back hattricks against Palace and Forest. The latter was both a traditional perfect hattrick (left foot, right, header) and a ‘German perfect hattrick’ – all three goals scored uninterrupted by any other player.
Oh, and he also scored each of them in consecutive halves across the two games if there’s a word for that – he essentially managed the most perfect pair of trios you’ll probably see for some time.
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Even when doesn’t manage multiple goals, he produces moments of match-winning brilliance like this:
He’s going to score a lot of those finishes by the way.
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Most others would find it hard to even reach that ball and even if they could, very few are clinical, composed and creative enough to convert it into a goal.
The stats speak for themselves
With that in mind, if he’s already this prolific so early on in the season and he’s able to add even more improvised goals like this to his tally when most others wouldn’t even attempt, it’s fair to say that he’s going to pull even further ahead of his goalscoring rivals than he already is quite quickly.
To put things into perspective, even with an xG (expected goals) rating of 1.19 goals per every 90 -minutes of football, he is already exceeding his own stats, averaging an xG of 1.86 per 90 according to FotMob.
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Put even simpler, this means he’s scoring a goal around 48.5 minutes – that’s just in the Premier League alone.
If you extrapolate his numbers to take into account the three Champions League goals he’s already scored and presuming City make it to the final of the FA and Carabao Cup this year – and it looks very well they might – then the projected figures are verging on scary.
How many could Haaland theoretically score?
Were he to continue at this rate for as many games possible, he could theoretically end the season on a grand total of 102 goals – with 63 of those goals coming in the Premier League. That’s based on his average 80 or so minutes per game he’s currently on the pitch for – and it’s even more if he played the full 90 for the remaining 32 games.
Erling Haaland has virtually secured this year’s golden boot in just six matches / Credit: Man City (via Twitter)
Now, chances are he is going to a few games without a goal at some point (well, you’d hope so, for everyone else’s sake), but when you consider the sheer raft of talent and regular service from the rest of the City squad, it’s entirely possible he could break all kinds of records.
Essentially, whatever number he ends up finishing on is going to come down to whether Pep decides to rest him or whether or not he stays injury free, as he has been known to suffer a knock or two.
If left entirely up to him, we can only imagine what magic he produces.
Either way, whether you’re a City fan or not, it’s going to be genuinely riveting to see just how many goals he’ll score this season.
The 2026 World Breaking Finals of the UK B-Boy Championships are coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
It’s official: the UK B-Boy Championships are returning to Manchester this year for the 2026 World Breaking Finals, in what is a special anniversary for the annual tournament.
Celebrating three decades since the inaugural event this summer, the UK B-Boy Champs will once again remind fans why they still remain among the gold standard for competitive breakdancing.
With elite breakers and dance battlers from more than 20 different countries in attendance – and plenty of contestants from each, at that – it’s going to be a real global showcase of talent.
Returning to Manchester once again, we can’t wait to see breakdancing take over the Factory International concourse and wider campus.
Anyone in the world will know that the city also hosted another big European equivalent back in 2022 on behalf of the 2022 World DanceSport Federation, but the UK B-Boy Championships have a passionate following of their own.
This also happens to be the 30th anniversary of the event, so it’s a momentous occasion on many levels.
With live music from not only classic artists and legendary MCs, but artists for the future too, there’ll be plenty of tunes and impressive moves from start to finish.
Coming to Aviva Studios this summer, they’ve billed it quite short and sweet: “The sickest breakers on the planet will battle in a once-in-a-generation celebration of Hip-Hop culture.”
They’re promising “High-stakes rivalries. Gravity-defying moves”, and “Unforgettable performances”, adding, “This isn’t just another battle – this is the Champs legacy in motion.”
Credit: Supplied
The World Breaking Finals get underway in Manchester on 16 August at Aviva Studios, and it’s all set up to be arguably the biggest yet.
General admission went on sale this past Friday, 13 March, with adult tickets starting from only £20 and kids from just a tenner.
As we mentioned before, this isn’t the only big sporting date coming to Manchester this year, with the likes of the British basketball’s annual Cup Finals concluding at AO Arena and another big Super League set to for a grandstand finish at our other big indoor entertainment venue…
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Get the Affects Communications)
Sport
The Premier League and EFL should follow La Liga’s lead and bring Retro Matchdays to the UK
Danny Jones
Following the news that La Liga is set to debut a new ‘Retro Matchday’ round, we can’t help but ask the question: why didn’t the Premier League and EFL think of this first?
Well, technically, neither did the Spaniards, but you take our point.
Anyone who follows the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, or even the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) equivalent here in the UK and mainland Europe, will know that the concept is nothing new – but by and large, it seems to be for the beautiful game.
In case you missed it, in an effort to further capitalise on the increasing trend of vintage and classic football kit fashion/the wider nostalgia culture that only seems to be growing every year, Spain’s top two tiers will soon host their inaugural Retro Matchday gameweek next month, and we want a piece of it.
Set to be hosted from Friday, 10 April, over the usual weekend of football in their premier and second division, and running until the final lot of fixtures on Monday, 13 April (no, thankfully not an April Fool’s), supporters will get to see players step out onto the pitch in some of the country’s most iconic kits.
Depending on who you ask, some would argue that Spain has some of the nicest footy shirts all time, whether that be the national side or clubs themselves.
To be honest, we definitely have a soft spot for a proper European throwback – we’re thinking Borussia Dortmund’s 1995/96 home kit, the Napoli kits of the 80s, that amazing Toyota-sponsored Fila Fiorentina kit at the turn of the millennium – and even some of the best 2000s ones now look so old-school.
In fact, we actually had a taster of these kinds of special matches in the past, including here in 0161 for the likes of the Manchester Derby.
Reminds me of the Manchester derby in 2008 where they played in retro kits due to it coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Looked absolutely brilliant. pic.twitter.com/TLRjKHThbG
When you also take into account that, besides collectors already creating a whole new craze in filling their cupboards with classic kits, the likes of Nike, Adidas and more now regularly turning to old designs like the ‘Futura’, Total 90′ and various ‘adi Originals’ revivals of late, it’s more the rage than ever.
Birmingham’s recent ‘penguin’ remake, Port Vale’s traditional 150th anniversary one, based on their 1953-54 season jersey, not to mention countless other lifestyle fashion collections inspired by historic releases, you can’t move for the stuff – so why not get them wearing it on the grass?
As mentioned, the likes of local ice hockey outfit Manchester Storm have been taking a leaf out of the NHL’s book for ages now, with the annual ‘Retro Nights’ proving to be some of the most popular dates on the calendar, even selling off original shirts in the stadium itself before, during and after the match.
We genuinely can’t think of a single football lover following a team at any level in the English football pyramid that wouldn’t LOVE this. In fact, plenty of them already go to the ground wearing their dad’s second-hand away strip, which has turned out to be a modern cult favourite among the next generation.
These are the kinds of ideas we can see fans actually getting behind; you can find out more HERE. Would you like to see a retro Premier League and/or EFL match day featuring your favourite kits from down the years?
Danny Jones -
16th September 2022 
