Erling Haaland's incredible influence on the Premier League this season has been laid bare by a table calculated without his goals.
The Norwegian didn't so much hit the ground running after his arrival from Borussia Dortmund, but more so exploded out of the blocks with early hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest. He's gone on to notch a record breaking 36 league goals for the season, and a staggering 52 in all competitions.
He's not done yet either. The champions elect still have three games to play, needing a win in just one of them to secure a third straight top flight title. The 22-year-old hit man also has the small matter of an FA Cup final and this Wednesday's Champions League semi final second leg with Real Madrid to add to his tally.
But without his goals - in a table calculated by NJ.bet - Pep Guardiola's men would currently be up against it just to finish in the top four this season, let alone champions. Arsenal meanwhile, would already be celebrating on the streets of North London, an unassailable 13 points clear in first place
Newcastle would lie second on 68 points, one point clear of Manchester United in third. Liverpool would be five points further back on 62, one point ahead of City in fifth place.
The table does outline a humiliating stat for the Red Devils though. Even without Haaland netting 36 times, City would still have out-scored Manchester rivals United with 56 goals from the rest of their squad, with United’s tally of 51 falling short. In fact, the Citizens would still be the sixth highest scorers in the league.
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Haaland has scored against 16 of the 19 other Premier League teams, and this number could potentially rise to a record-breaking 18 before the season is out. Brentford and Chelsea, two of the teams on his hit list, still both have to play against City in the final three games of the season.
Mo Salah holds the current record after scoring against 17 teams in the 2017/18 campaign. Haaland has scored in both games against seven teams, with Liverpool the only side to have kept him out in both fixtures.
There would be little change to the current relegation spaces if the unstoppable forward was elsewhere though. Southampton would still be already down, with Leicester City and Leeds United still in the bottom three with them.
Here is how the top five would look without the man who has taken the Premier League by storm (table calculated by NJ.bet)...
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | GD | Points |
Arsenal | 36 | 25 | 6 | 5 | 83 | 40 | 43 | 81 |
Newcastle United | 35 | 19 | 11 | 5 | 63 | 30 | 33 | 68 |
Manchester United | 35 | 20 | 7 | 8 | 51 | 38 | 13 | 67 |
Liverpool | 35 | 18 | 8 | 9 | 57 | 42 | 25 | 62 |
Manchester City | 35 | 17 | 10 | 8 | 56 | 31 | 25 | 61 |