Erling Haaland is closing in on yet another Premier League record, as the Manchester City man closes in on 50 goals in England’s top division.
Haaland has, incredibly, averaged better than a goal-per-game since his move to the Etihad, scoring 49 goals in 47 games for the Citizens. He broke the record for Premier League goals in a single season in 2022/23, before continuing where he left off this time around.
Once again the league’s leading scorer, the Norwegian will shatter the record for the fastest footballer to reach 50 goals in the Premier League if he scores against Liverpool this weekend.
The fastest players to 50 Premier League Goals:
=4. Mohamed Salah (72)
It only took a season-and-a-half for Mohamed Salah to break the half-century mark during his time at Liverpool, hitting the milestone with two goals against Crystal Palace in a 4-3 victory.
The Egyptian’s frankly ridiculous rate of 0.61 goals per game in the division puts him in the goalscoring elite of the Premier League era.
Salah took 72 games to reach 50 goals, which would have been unthinkable when he joined the Merseyside club in 2017 with a reputation for being wasteful in front of goal. He could have risen even higher up this list had it not been for an underwhelming spell at Chelsea earlier in his career, when he scored just two goals in thirteen league games.
=4. Fernando Torres (72)
Hardly a surprise to find the Spaniard makes it, considering he took the league by storm in a very similar fashion to Salah when he initially joined Liverpool. The Reds saw the best of Torres, whose form fell off the side of a cliff when he moved to Chelsea in January 2011 for a British record transfer fee of £50 million.
The kit.
The blonde hair.
The hairband.
The white ankle tape.
The ridiculous finishing.This was peak @Torres for @LFC 😍 pic.twitter.com/FZuHKuytI9
— Premier League (@premierleague) July 19, 2022
3. Ruud van Nistelrooy (68)
The Dutchman was one of the best finishers in the history of the Premier League, scoring 95 goals in the top flight for Manchester United. Known as a supreme poacher, a common argument against Van Nistelrooy was that he didn’t contribute enough to the all-round play of the team, but by god did he know how to put one in the onion bag.
2. Alan Shearer (66)
Considering the former Newcastle United striker holds the all-time record for goals scored in the Premier League, it’s quite astonishing to find him in second place here.
We mustn’t forget either that before he was scoring goals for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle in the Prem, he was doing it for Southampton in the old First Division.
In total he has 379 goals in all competitions. Astonishing indeed.
1. Andrew Cole (65)
When he couldn’t break into the first team at Arsenal, Andy Cole moved to Newcastle United, via a spell at Bristol City, where his career took off like a rocket.
For almost three decades, his record of 50 goals in 65 games looked like it would never be beaten. Cole scored 55 times in 70 Premier League appearances for the Magpies, before moving to Man United where he would score 93 goals in 195 league appearances.
Enjoy one of the best of Andy Cole’s 187 #PL goals 👏#GoalOfTheDay // @NUFC pic.twitter.com/UBvGH6Q0UI
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 11, 2021
That return helped the Red Devils to five Premier League titles and treble success in 1998/99, while Cole’s haul of 189 goals in the Premier League contained just one penalty kick.
We salute you, sir!
