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Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored two significant goals at the weekend as his sublime season continues.
Erling Haaland believes he has been in the best shape of his career this season, and the numbers would just about back that up. His two goals against West Ham on Saturday saw him move to 25 in all competitions - a figure he has never reached before at the Etihad before Christmas Day.
In part that is down to the timing of the Qatar World Cup in 2022. Haaland had 24 goals from 19 appearances in his debut campaign for Pep Guardiola's side but domestic football was put on hold from the middle of November until around Christmas because of FIFA's international tournament.
For the first time since 2022, Haaland reaches a Christmas Day with more goals than appearances, with his tally coming from just 23 appearances. With 19 goals from 17 league games, he will have his Premier League record of 36 in a single campaign in mind over the first half of 2026.
Saturday's brace was also significant in the conversation around the club's greatest ever goalscorers. His first goal took him past Franny Lee on the all-time list and his second took him to 150 goals - more than just six men in the entirety of City's history.
Joe Hayes and Billy Meredith share fifth place with 152 goals and Colin Bell - arguably seen as the club's greatest ever player, albeit a midfielder - is one above them on 153. With four games in 12 days coming up after the players return for training on Christmas Day, Haaland could work his way into fourth position on the leaderboard early in 2026.
Slightly further ahead, Tommy Johnson (166) and Eric Brook (177) sit in third and second place respectively before the biggest jump all the way up to Sergio Aguero in first with 260. Having signed a contract extension that keeps him at the Etihad until 2034, Haaland will be able to set a new benchmark if he continues to be anywhere near as prolific.
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