Erling Haaland has had a phenomenal start to this Premier League season, but not quite the best ever
Erling Haaland has made an electric start to the season for new club Manchester City, bagging a staggering 18 goals in just 12 Premier League appearances so far.
Such a stat might lead you to be believe that it's the best goalscoring start to an EPL campaign that we've ever seen, but another superstar striker went even better just under a decade ago.
In the 2013/14 season, Liverpool pushed Manchester City all the way in their battle to win a first ever Premier league trophy. They did so, in large part, thanks to the incredible contributions of 'SAS' - or Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez.
The Uruguayan forward missed the first handful of games that season due to a suspension he picked up for biting Branislav Ivanovic (remember that?), but when he returned to first team action, Suarez was almost unstoppable.
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In his first 12 appearances in 2013/14 he scored 19 goals, one better than Haaland has managed in his first dozen.
It makes you wonder how many goals he might have scored had it not been for the early season ban, as the 35-year-old still managed to find the net 31 times for Liverpool as they ran City close for the title.
After one of the best individual Premier League campaigns we've ever seen, Suarez made his way to Barcelona, winning the Champions League in his very first season there.
He'd go on to play 191 times for the Spanish club, scoring 147 goals across a six-year spell.
A short stint at Atletico Madrid would follow, with Suarez returning home to his native Uruguay to play for Nacional earlier this year.
In terms of starts to a Premier League season, both Suarez and Haaland are well clear of the rest. The next best goalscoring start came from Les Ferdinand in 1995/96 for Newcastle United, where he netted 14 in his first 12, with Robin van Persie and Kevin Phillips just below on 13.
What's most remarkable about Suarez's record breaking start is that none of his 19 goals were penalties - unlike some of the players on the list.
That role was firmly designated to captain Steven Gerrard, making his teammate's strike-rate all the more incredible.
Nevertheless, even with Haaland coming second best on this occasion, barring injury it's looking highly likely that the Norwegian forward will break the Premier League record for most goals in 38-game season.
That record is currently held by another Liverpool legend, Mohamed Salah, who bagged 32 goals back in 2017/18.
How many EPL goals will Haaland end up on this season? Let us know what you think!
Topics: Erling Haaland, Liverpool, Luis Suarez, Manchester City, Premier League, Robin Van Persie
Tom Fenton