Haaland’s Goals Fire Man City into Title Contention

Erling Haaland has long been a sensational goalscorer, scoring almost a goal per game on average throughout most of his career to date. The 2024/25 season was something of an anomaly, however, as the Norwegian netted only 22 times in the Premier League for Manchester City. That’s not a bad return by normal standards, but after scoring 36 in 35 league matches in his first season, and 27 in 31 in 2023/24, his tally last season felt somewhat below par.

Whatever Haaland did over the summer appears to be paying dividends in the 2025/26 campaign, as he’s on fire. At the time of writing, he’s netted 13 goals in 10 Premier League games plus another five in four Champions League outings. In total, the sharpshooter has scored a whopping 27 goals for club and country this term, and if he continues at this rate, he could break all kinds of records. More importantly, for Man City fans at least, his goals could help City challenge for the Premier League and Champions League.

Can Man City Win the Premier League?

Arsenal have set the pace in the EPL this term and look almost unstoppable as things stand, not least because they’ve only conceded three goals in all competitions thus far. At the time of writing, City are second in the table on 19 points from their 10 games, leaving them six points behind the Gunners.

But the sides have both been in similar positions before and more often than not, Arsenal have bottled it in the latter stages of the campaign. If Haaland continues to bang in the goals, and if a few of his teammates contribute a few more, City will pose a serious challenge to Mikel Arteta’s side in the race for the title.

At present, Arsenal are the strong odds-on favourites, with bookies pricing the north Londoners at odds of around 1/2. City, meanwhile, are the second-favourites at 9/2 with most firms. That doesn’t look like a bad bet at this stage, given Arsenal’s inability to get over the line in the last few seasons. It’s possible Arteta’s men will maintain their fine form, but if anyone can find a way through the Gunners’ mean defence, it would be an in-form Haaland. Much may depend on the six-pointer between the sides when Arsenal visit the Etihad in mid-April.

How About the Champions League?

The Champions League is arguably tougher to win than the Premier League, and it can come down to moments of brilliance when it gets to the final stages. Haaland played in the final in 2022/23 but couldn’t score, as Man City beat Inter Milan 1-0, thanks to a Rodri goal. He also drew blanks in the two-legged semis against Real Madrid, but he scored home and away against Bayern Munich in the quarters.

The powerful Norwegian would dearly love to add to his impressive Champions League tally with more goals in the latter stages of this year’s tournament, and City should make the knockout stages with room to spare. Pep Guardiola’s men are currently fourth in the table on 10 points from four games, with Inter Milan, Arsenal and Bayern ahead of them (all of whom have won four out of four).

A lot might of course rely on the draw for the knockout phase, and player fitness could also prove to be a significant factor. Of course, any injuries to Haaland could prove disastrous to City’s chances in the Champions League and on the domestic front. But assuming he stays fit, he will be tough for any defence in Europe to handle. As with the Premier League, Arsenal are the current favourites for Europe’s top competition and are priced at around 5/1 with most bookies. City are out at 8/1, just behind Bayern and PSG.

How Many Could Haaland Score this Season?

There’s an element of ‘how long’s a piece of string?’ to that question, but realistically, Haaland has a very good chance of scoring more than a goal per game this term. If he maintains his current scoring rate in the Premier League of 1.3 goals per game, that would leave him with 49 goals if he plays in every match. His best EPL tally to date came in his first season at City when he netted 36 goals in 35 appearances. He’s likely to add plenty more for his club in the various cups and for Norway, and it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility to see him net 70+ in total.

Haaland is very much in contention for the European Golden Shoe (top scorer) award as things stand. He’s level on 13 goals with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe (although the Frenchman has played one game more). And he’s a goal ahead of Bayern’s Harry Kane. The City ace would no doubt rather add trophies to his club’s cabinet than win personal tussles such as this, but if he’s successful with his club this term, winning the Golden Shoe could be the icing on the cake. There’s a long way to go, of course, but Haaland’s form is scarily good at the moment, and we anticipate his goals will prove pivotal as City chase more silverware.