Erling Haaland ranked in top three Premier League players for stat you won't believe

Erling Haaland ranks in the top three Premier League players for a stat that's hard to believe.

Over the last few years, Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has earned a reputation for being the most lethal goal-scorer on the planet.

Last season the Norwegian scored a remarkable 51 goals in 52 games, and broke the record for the most goals scored in a single Premier League campaign (36).

This year he is on course to win the Golden Boot once again, as he currently leads the scoring charts with 18 goals.

However, this season it's been clear that Haaland hasn't quite been at the level he was last season, even if he has still been excellent.

Last season his ability to score with practically every chance he had was almost robotic, whereas this term he has missed a number of sitters.

The open goal he missed during City's 3-1 defeat of Man United on Sunday was the latest example.

To illustrate Haaland's relative struggles, it turns out he is among the Premier League's top three players for a rather undesirable stat.

As highlighted on X, Haaland is in the top three players for scoring below open-play expected goals (xG) in the Premier League in 2023-24.

Haaland now in Top 3 for scoring below open-play xG in PL 2023-24.

1. Calvert-Lewin (-6.2)
2. N. Jackson (-4.3)
3. Haaland (-2.6)

… as for goals scored, he’s in the Top 1.

— Thore Haugstad (@Haugstad1006) March 4, 2024

Expected goals measures the quality of a chance by calculating the likelihood that it will be scored by using information on similar shots in the past.

Haaland's open-play xG deficit of -2.6 - meaning he would be expected to score at least two more goals than he has from open player - is the third highest in the Premier League this season.

Second in the ranking is Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson with -4.3, while Everton front-man Dominic Calvert-Lewis is way out in front with a whopping -6.2.

Over his last four full league seasons with Borussia Dortmund and City, Haaland is 17.7 above his open-play xG.

This season is clearly a huge outlier, but the scary thing for City's opponents is that his underperformance hasn't stopped him from topping the scoring charts.