Manchester City haven’t had the best of seasons, that’s for sure.
Indeed, City’s stranglehold on the Premier League title has been broken as Liverpool have now been crowned champions, and a number of City players have underperformed this term.
Phil Foden has been heavily criticised, while Bernardo Silva hasn’t been good enough either.
However, it hasn’t all been doom and gloom for City.
Pep Guardiola’s side could still win the FA Cup this year, while a few City players have been shining beacons of hope.
Nico O’Reilly has been fantastic as of late, Omar Marmoush has earned a lot of praise since arriving in January, while Erling Haaland has been as solid as ever.
Speaking to Goal, Jamie Carragher has been reviewing some of the Premier League’s top performers this season, and he made quite an interesting claim about Erling Haaland and a former City star.
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Jamie Carragher picks Cole Palmer over Erling Haaland
Carragher was asked to pick between a number of Premier League players based on how they have performed this season.
Ultimately, Carragher picked Mohamed Salah as his Player of the Season, but prior to that, he was asked to pick between Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland.
Carragher has never been a huge fan of Haaland, but, on this occasion, he picked Palmer as the better performer this season.
Of course, Palmer was at Manchester City for a long time before leaving in 2023.
Palmer has been a key player for Chelsea this term, but it does feel as though Carragher is doing Haaland something of a disservice with this verdict.
Cole Palmer compared to Erling Haaland
Carragher says Palmer has had a better season than Haaland, but the numbers tell a different story here.
| Erling Haaland | Cole Palmer | |
| 28 | Games | 33 |
| 21 | Goals | 14 |
| 3 | Assists | 8 |
| 0.86 | Goal contributions per game | 0.66 |
Haaland has had more goal contributions in fewer games, while also playing for a team that is higher in the league.
Palmer, of course, outperforms Haaland in certain key stats such as key passes per game and dribbles, but Haaland is making more of a direct impact in the final third.
Haaland isn’t getting the credit he deserves this season due to the incredible standards he has set over the past few years.
This will be the first year Haaland doesn’t win the Premier League Golden Boot, but, make no mistake about it, 21 goals in 28 matches for any striker is a remarkable return, and he very much deserves to be in the Player of the Year conversation.
Haaland remains one of the best players in the Premier League, even if he hasn’t scored as many as he did in his first two seasons in England.
