Erling Haaland is ripping up the record books. Image: @jacobsben / twitter
English Premier League preview: Don’t make Erling Haaland angry
The English Premier League was gone for a while but it’s back in our hearts and Erling Haaland is back among the goals. No surprises there.
Erling Haaland is ripping up the record books. Image: @jacobsben / twitter
The English Premier League is back in full swing and Erling Haaland is scoring goals. Some things never change.
Here’s a preview of Friday and Saturday’s action as we round off an eventful 2022.
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Premier League preview: Erling Haaland on the hunt for goals
Friday 30 December
Liverpool vs Leicester
The Reds beat Aston Villa last time out, meaning they’ve won three consecutive EPL matches for the first time this season. Leicester showed signs of life before the World Cup but they were terrible against Newcastle on Boxing Day and will be without star man James Maddison at Anfield. Liverpool haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last five matches though, so there could be fireworks on Friday night.
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Saturday 31 December
Wolves vs Man United
Marcus Rashford will has 10 goals and four assists across all competitions for the Red Devils this term, with his direct goal contributions arriving every 113.8 minutes on average. He’s clearly been benefiting from Benni McCarthy’s tutelage at Old Trafford. United make the trip to Molineux to face Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves, a side which will be buoyant after a stoppage-time winner against Everton on Boxing Day.
Man City vs Everton
“I recharged my batteries. To see other players score at the World Cup kind of triggers, kind of motivates and irritates me.”
Erling Haaland sounds motivated. And irritated. He’s now got 20 goals this season in the EPL after his brace against Leeds in the city of his birth. Everton, on the other hand, have lost 12 away matches in 2022, more than any other top-flight team. Halaand is just 12 goals away from matching Mo Salah’s single-season record of 32 strikes in a top-flight season. There are 22 games to go. The visiting Toffees are likely to get unstuck here against a Norwegian goal-machine on a mission.
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Newcastle vs Leeds
Newcastle’s 3-0 win at Leicester continued their amazing form. Miguel Almirón is the surprice package with nine EPL goals, only Aleksandar Mitrović, Ivan Toney, Harry Kane and Haaland have more than the Paraguayan in 2022-23. Leeds’ last 5 league matches have produced a total of 26 goals and they’ve conceded 14 in that sample. This should be tasty and full of action.
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Brighton vs Arsenal
The final EPL match of 2022 sees two football purist teams square off on the South Coast. Brighton will have to do without World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister as he takes another week off. Outstanding Ecuadorian dynamo Moises Caicedo is suspended, so the Seagulls will stick with Pascal Gross in central midfield alongside young Scotsman Billy Gilmour.
They’ll have to do their best to contain Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard, whose creativity was too much for West Ham on Boxing Day. The Norwegian bagged a brace of assists and generally ran the show for an Arsenal side very much picking up where they left off in November. This will be another tough examination of Arsenal’s title credentials.
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Enjoy the weekend, Premier League fanatics!
Meanwhile, you can get more insights, analysis and love for the beautiful game from James Freemantle
Also keep up on daily football trivia via football stats nerd foodball_za.
