Premier League preview 2022-23: Could Nunez outperform Haaland?

The thirst for goals in the Premier League is insatiable. Fresh from the second highest-scoring 38-game season of all time, teams towards the top of the Premier League tree having been throwing cash around like it’s confetti this summer in an effort to make sure the net bulges even more frequently this term.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and West Ham have all splurged on strikers, hoping to freshen up their attacks and in turn cut the gap between themselves and last season’s top two, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Eager not to be outdone, the Citizens and Reds decided the time was right to reinvigorate their potent frontlines too, and there have been no half measures as the pair snapped up two of Europe’s premier marksmen in Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez.

Before a ball has even been kicked, City appear to have been crowned the winners of this particular duel between England’s top two with the perennial title favourites as short as they’ve ever been under Pep Guardiola to win the Premier League.

Haaland is also the favourite to claim the Golden Boot, while Liverpool’s £85million record signing Nunez is as big as 14-1 to finish as top scorer.

That’s a big discrepancy in price given neither has played in the Premier League before and both arrive on these shores having averaged over a goal a game in league action last season.

Haaland has churned out goals more consistently during his fledgling career, scoring 86 in 89 games for previous employers Borussia Dortmund, although he never won the Bundesliga’s Golden Boot prize, while Nunez left Benfica having registered 48 goals in 85 games.

But Nunez appears ready to step up to Haaland’s level having scored 34 goals in 41 games in all competitions for Benfica last season, and his underlying stats suggest the 23-year-old is far from a one-season wonder.

No player had a better minutes-per-goal ratio (74) across Europe’s top six leagues than Nunez last term, while his expected goals (xG) of 0.69 ranked him fifth among players in those leagues to have played over 1,000 minutes.

The Uruguayan’s conversion rate of 27.2 per cent was unmatched among players to have attempted at least 55 shots and he’s already putting his excellent power, movement and finishing skills to good use in a Liverpool shirt, notching four in a pre-season friendly against Leipzig.

Given Liverpool’s excellent record in the transfer window, it’s hard to imagine Nunez not being a success at Anfield, and the same goes for Haaland at City once both men have had time to adapt.

As to who got the better striker, both clubs look to be winners with the only losers in this scenario being Premier League defenders.

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