The first huge game of the new Premier League season takes place on the very first weekend, as Chelsea and Manchester City will go head-to-head at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
Manchester City’s goal-scoring machine Erling Haaland will have been oiled up over pre-season and should now be ready to spin into action.
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Haaland to start with a hat-trick?
The Norwegian has proven that goal-getting in the Premier League is very much his thing, so we really shouldn’t be surprised if he fills his boots again this season. After all, he's again the main favourite to be the top scorer in the Premier League at 8/11 odds.
He's also tipped at 3/1 to outscore the bottom-placed team of the upcoming Premier League season.
Meanwhile, we shouldn’t be too surprised if he starts strongly since he began his first season by scoring nine goals in his first five games, scoring not one, but two hat-tricks.
Last time around, Haaland notched eight goals in his first six games, including a hat-trick against Fulham. Ahead of Sunday’s visit to Stamford Bridge, the Norway international's average price to score three goals against Chelsea is 22/1.
Given that he’s known for starting the season strong and having scored four in a single game only four games from the end of the previous campaign, plenty of people will no doubt want a few quid on.
Less effective against the big six?
The Norwegian forward is a prolific scorer. Nobody can argue that. However, could you argue that he’s less devastating against the big teams? The answer must be yes, and here’s why:
Firstly, only one of Haaland’s six Premier League hat-tricks has come against the ‘big six’, and even that came against a weak Manchester United team. That means that Man City’s chief hitman has never notched a hat-trick against Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, or Tottenham. He’s also never scored a hat-trick against Aston Villa, Newcastle, or West Ham.
Not only has Haaland never scored a hat-trick against the ‘big six’, but he’s also struggled to score braces against such opponents. He does have a brace against Manchester United (as well as that hat-trick), while he’s bagged two against Spurs as well, but never against Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool.
Haaland’s six hat-tricks have come against Fulham, Wolves (x2), Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United. Given his record in games such as Sunday’s, I’d argue that Haaland’s hat-trick price is anything but generous. I certainly won’t be rushing to take odds of 22/1, will you?
A juicy 7/2 bet ahead of Sunday’s clash
Ahead of this game, the bookmakers make the visitors quite solid favourites to get the job done. You can currently bet on the Manchester City win at odds of 4/5, implying that the chance of an away win stands at 55.6%.
Haaland doesn’t have a fantastic hat-trick record against the big teams, but he’s no stranger to scoring in such games, that’s for sure. Since arriving in the Premier League, the 24-year-old has scored at least once against each of the big teams.
What’s more, since the start of the 2022/23 season, no player has assisted Haaland more than Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian has provided for the Norwegian on no less than 16 occasions in the last two seasons (across all competitions), so at odds of 7/2, I’ll be having some of ‘Erling Haaland to score a goal assisted by Kevin De Bruyne’.
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