EPL Tips for 2022/23 Season: Erling Haaland to Make His English Soccer Debut

Erling Haaland is a recruit at Man City who needed only 12 minutes to score his first goal for the Citizens. Will he play as brilliantly in the EPL? Our prediction: the Norwegian will win the scoring race!

The English Championship is one of the most competitive tournaments in Europe, but the same men have been in the scoring race all last seasons: Harry Kane, Mo Salah, Jamie Vardy, and Heung-Min Son. Will they fight for the Golden Shoe again, or will the individual award have a new owner? TelecomAsia tells us about the leading contenders for the title of the most productive player of the season, 2022/23.

Manchester City have been in need of a scoring center forward for the past few years, and in the summer they acquired two forwards at once. One of them was Argentinian Julián Álvarez and the other was Erling Haaland. Of course, Pep Guardiola's first choice will be the Norwegian, who continues to show phenomenal statistics. In his two and a half seasons with Borussia he appeared in 87 games in all competitions, scoring 86 goals (0.99 average per game) - a phenomenal figure for a young player. The 22-year-old was also no stranger to the Citizens when, on his debut for his new club, he struck Bayern on 12 minutes.

Mohammed Salah is a three-time winner of the Golden Shoe in the EPL. Last season, the Egyptian scored 23 goals and shared top spot in the scoring race with Heung-Min Son. The 30-year-old could have left Liverpool in the summer but the contract extension until 2025 was announced at the very beginning of July, and he is now the Reds' highest-paid player. In the summer preseason Salah has already begun to demonstrate that his contract extension was not in vain, he scores regularly so in the season 2022/23 we have the right to expect from him a decent statistical performance.

Harry Kane is another three-time winner of the top scorer award in the EPL Championship. The Englishman was last at the top of the scoring charts in the 2020/21 season, but he only made 17 goals in the last tournament finishing fourth, behind Heung-Min Son. It is important to mention that after last year's Euros the 28-year-old forward was threatened to leave Tottenham and move to Man City but it did not happen, so he had to perform with the Spurs. Fortunately, he is gradually gaining his usual form, which he demonstrates in the summer preseason games.

Darwin Nunez is a forward who played in the Spanish Segunda for Almeria just a couple of years ago before moving to the Portuguese league and becoming a star of the tournament. If his debut year with Benfica was not good, as evidenced by only six goals, last season he played 28 games in the Primera Division, shooting 26 goals and six in the Champions League. Liverpool already recruited Luis Diaz from the Portuguese league in the winter, who quickly became an important player for the Merseysiders. Now they have decided to bet on the Uruguayan from the same league, who has already made a hat-trick in his second friendly for the Reds.

Heung-Min Son is a seasoned footballer who has spent seven years with Tottenham, but only at the end of last season he finally won the Golden Shoe. The Korean made 23 goals and seven assists in 35 EPL matches last season. His duo with Harry Kane is one of the most productive in the league. In the off-season, Antonio Conte decided to clean up the physical condition of the Spurs, so in the coming season we have the right to expect even greater efficiency from the London leaders.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still among the contenders for the Golden Shoe, although his future is still unknown. Last season he returned to Manchester United to thunderous applause, but he wasn't always at his best. By the middle of the championship, even his fans booed him. Nevertheless, with 18 goals, he finished third in the EPL scoring list, which is not too bad for a 37-player. In the summer, the Red Devils under Erik ten Hag rebuilt the team while the Portuguese is in no hurry to become part of it, missing not only training sessions but also full tours.

Gabriel Jesus joined Manchester City during the 2016/17 season. In his first game for the Citizens, he scored the most important goal, and in just ten games he made seven more and four assists. Alas, his scoring output dipped after his debut season and he never scored more than 14 goals in the next five seasons, becoming Pep Guardiola's man of the rotation. Last summer, the Brazilian decided to make a career change, heading to Arsenal. He has scored four goals in his four starts, but the main thing now is to keep up the momentum.

Raheem Sterling is another player who has been in Pep Guardiola's rotation and, at times, not even in the squad. Last season, he scored 13 goals in 30 games in the EPL, adding five assists, but even that was not enough to get into the main lineup. As a result, the 27-year-old Englishman decided to change the club, going to Chelsea. There is no doubt that this move will be a new challenge for him, but he has yet to start for the Blues as convincingly as Gaby Jesus for Arsenal: in the two initial test games he did not produce any results, playing exactly one half each time. 

We have already noted that Liverpool in recent years have begun to equip their offense with the Portuguese players, but the first such swallow for the Reds was Diogo Jota. Even though he moved to the Merseyside squad from Wolverhampton, he first came to prominence when he played for Porto. The 25-year-old player made 35 appearances last season, scoring 15 goals and making the top-10 goalscorers in the league. If he continues to grow, he could certainly improve his position in the upcoming tournament.

Timo Werner played superbly for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga, so expectations of him in the EPL were enormous, but in reality he has yet to impress. In his debut season for Chelsea he played 35 games, scoring only six goals. In the last championship he was a substitute for Romelu Lukaku, who, in his turn, was a reserve player. As a result, the German scored only four goals in 21 games, disappointing Thomas Tuchel. His main rival from Belgium went on loan to Inter in the summer, so Timo Werner has another chance to anchor himself in the Blues' starting lineup, and he is the author of the team's first goal in the preseason. 

The English Championship is a tournament rich in players of the highest caliber, but many of them fail to perform at the proper level. The 2022/23 season will again see an exciting battle for the tournament's top scorer, with newcomer Erling Haaland the favorite. For his 22 years, he managed to break many records, and he scored in every tournament: in the championship of Norway and Austria, the Bundesliga, the Champions League, the national team, and even with Man City already managed to score in his debut game.

Moreover, Manchester City has long required an attacking winger, whose place will now be taken by a young and talented striker. The Citizens scored 99 goals in the last EPL, eager to play bright and attacking soccer, and the 22-year-old will have an excellent chance to take a significant percentage of the team's goals. As a result, it's worth taking a closer look at the bet on Erling Haaland to be the top scorer

• TelecomAsia Sport is looking for a Qatar-based video blogger to work during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Contact jobs@telecomasia.net for more information.