Erling Haaland breaks another record and other stats you might have missed as the Premier League returns | OneFootball

The Premier League is back after the international break and there was a lot of action on Saturday.

There were eight games in total on Saturday, with five coming in the traditional 3pm kick-off slot. We had defending champions Manchester City involved, as well as Liverpool, both looking to keep their perfect runs going.

But with so much going on, and no way to watch the games outside of the ground in the UK, it’s hard to catch everything.

So, we’re here to round up the best stats and stories from the day.

Another record tumbles for Erling Haaland

This is running like a Football Manager simulation. No goalscoring record appears to be safe from Erling Haaland.

While there was no record-breaking third consecutive hat-trick, Haaland did set a new high for the best start to a season. Before Haaland, Wayne Rooney held the record for most goals scored in the opening four games of a Premier League season — eight in 2011/12.

In his first season in the Premier League, Haaland scored six goals in his first four games. A year later, the Norwegian netted six again. The patterns were exactly the same too. Haaland scored two goals in the first game, blanked in the second, one in the third and a hat-trick in the fourth.

This season though? This season, Haaland scored one goal in his first game before back-to-back hat-tricks and then a brace.

Ederson edges closer to Robinson

Haaland’s second goal was very un-Pep Guardiola like. The former Barcelona manager often comes under criticism from opposition fans for changing the way football is played.

Passing is now the name of the game, waiting for the perfect moment before attempting a shot. But Sam Allardyce would have been proud of this one, route one football at its finest.

With Brentford trying to apply pressure high up the pitch, Ederson sent a long ball over the top. Haaland had just Ethan Pinnock to contest with, and he won that battle with his strength.

It was Ederson’s fourth assist in the Premier League, moving him just one behind Paul Robinson as the most for a goalkeeper.

All four of Ederson’s assists have come at the Etihad, with one every other season.

Liverpool suffer shock defeat

The other perfect team going into Saturday, Liverpool were expected to continue their run against Nottingham Forest. The Reds had only lost once in their last 24 Premier League matches that have immediately followed an international break, with 18 wins.

When playing at Anfield in the league straight after an international break, Liverpool were unbeaten since September 2014. But records are made to be broken, and Nottingham Forest ended a long wait.

Although Forest did beat their Reds counterparts at the City Ground in 2022, they hadn’t won at Anfield since since 1969. Then, Bill Shankly was in charge of Liverpool and Matthew Gillies in the Forest dugout. Barry Lyons got the goals for Forest on that day, and Callum Hudson-Odoi has joined him as match-winners at Anfield.

The goal came after a counter-attack in the second half, a nice curling effort into the bottom corner, following a great pass from Anthony Elanga. It’s the only goal Liverpool have conceded in the league this season.

Raul Jimenez haunts Hammers again

Every player has their favourite opponent, and for Raul Jimenez that’s West Ham United.

Since his move to the Premier League with Wolves in 2018/19, Jimenez has played 10 games against West Ham. In that time, Jimenez has scored six goals, grabbing the latest on Saturday.

Of those six goals, five have come at home, with Jimenez only managing to net at the London Stadium once in 2020. And, Jimenez has continued his perfect record against West Ham in a Fulham shirt, with two goals in two.

Jean-Philippe Mateta loves Selhurst Park

Name a better duo than Jean-Philippe Mateta and Selhurst Park. Crystal Palace were 2-0 down to Leicester on Saturday and on their way to a third Premier League defeat in four. But then Mateta stepped up.

The Frenchman has been a revelation under Oliver Glasner, making the most obvious improvement since the managerial change. After eight goals in 39 games under Roy Hodgson and eight in 53 while Patrick Vieira was in charge.

In 17 games under Glasner, Mateta is just one off that tally, scoring his 14th and 15th against Leicester.

Of those 15 goals across all competitions, an incredible 14 have come at Selhurst Park. In fact, Mateta has only failed to score in one of his 10 games at Selhurst Park across all competitions for Glasner — a 2-0 defeat to West Ham in September.

Mateta’s second was an injury-time penalty to equalise for Crystal Palace, earning the Eagles their second point of the season.

Brighton’s toothless attack

Brighton’s unbeaten start to life under Fabian Hurzeler continued this weekend, but it was a second consecutive draw.

While the Seagulls had to fight hard for their draw against Arsenal before the international break, this one would have been more frustrating.

The Seagulls had 21 shots against Ipswich Town at the Amex on Saturday, hitting the target six times with an xG of 1.73. It’s the most shots a team have had in the Premier League this season without scoring.

It’s also a problem Brighton had a few times last season, having more shots without scoring on two occasions. The Seagulls opened the year with no goals from 22 shots against West Ham. In April, they failed to find the net against Brentford despite taking 24 shots. Both of those matches were goalless draws, but did come away from home.

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