Haaland second in 2022 Premier League goalscoring charts despite losing half that time to Germany
Now we know what you're thinking. "Calendar year" is not a measure of anything in football. The clue that 'calendar year' isn't how things are measured in football is the fact that you have to put the word 'calendar' in to make it clear you're not talking about a good year, which, as we all know, from July 1 to June 30.
But do you know what a thing is? Content. Content is definitely a thing. In many ways, the only thing. And so we make no apologies for bringing you this, the Premier League's top 10 goalscorers of the calendar year for 2022. Mainly because Erling Haaland is second on the list, which is objectively funny. Harry Kane and Ivan Toney have nothing to be ashamed of, but there are plenty of other Premier League strikers who should take a long, hard look at each other. Be warned, there are disappointing numbers to come…
10. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) - 12 goals Scored Arsenal's first goal of the year, in a fine but ultimately futile performance in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City, then the opening goal in the final game of the year at Brighton to help send the Gunners seven points clear at the top of the table. Add in the World Cup and it's been a decent 12 months for the boy, hasn't it?
8=. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – 13 goalsAnd about a million assists for Haaland to go along with all those beautiful, beautiful goals.
8=. Rodrigo (Leeds) - 13 goals Scored most of his goals in 2022 in batches. Three goals in four games in March, followed by six scoreless games. Then four out of three to start this season, then six games without a goal, then five out of four before the World Cup break. Two games without a goal since…
7. James Maddison (Leicester) – 14 goals And yet, Gareth Southgate did not choose him at the World Cup, simply because he was injured. Agenda, that.
5=. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - 15 goalsSalah has had a distinctly disappointing 2022 in terms of Premier League goalscoring, but only four players have managed more goals than Liverpool's three-time Golden Boot winner.
5=. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) - 15 goalsStill the main man in Palace's increasingly fun but inconsistent side after all these years and still delivering solid numbers to go with the flair.
4. Son Heung-min (Tottenham) - 18 goals Somehow still fourth on this list despite only scoring one Premier League game this season. Evidence of a few things. Firstly, how well he finished 2021/22 with 15 goals after the start of the year to finally clinch a share of the Golden Boot. Second, how disappointing a year 2022 has been in general for goalscorers. And third, make sure that if you only score one game, make sure you get a hat trick. It's just common sense.
3. Ivan Toney (Brentford) - 20 goals There are plenty of disappointing numbers on this list, but Toney's 20 goals for Brentford really aren't one of them. An outstanding goalscoring year that was kicked off by Christian Eriksen but continued without him with 12 goals in 16 games this season.
2. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) - 21 goals It's just absurd, isn't it? Only one player ahead and only one other even within three of a man who gave the rest of the field a seven-month head start. Quite how 'That City Team' + 'Weird 50 Goal Striker' seems to equal 'Losing the league to the real Arsenal' is a puzzle that will confuse boffins for ages to come. p>
1. Harry Kane (Tottenham) - 26 goals Even the absurd Haaland couldn't make up the six-goal deficit he carried in the New Year's game against Everton with Kane not in action before New Year's for Spurs. It does, however, give Kane a chance to get a leg up on the 2023 table, and it's no affront to Tottenham's talisman to say he's likely to need it. Another quietly excellent goalscoring year for Kane, however, who has normalized that sort of thing and remains on course to break Alan Shearer's record just in time for Haaland to break Kane's. Credit too for the neat split: 13 goals in the 2022 bit of 2021/22, and 13 more in the 2022 bit of 2022/23. You don't get that with your flashier, flashier Norwegian forwards.
Now we know what you're thinking. "Calendar year" is not a measure of anything in football. The clue that 'calendar year' isn't how things are measured in football is the fact that you have to put the word 'calendar' in to make it clear you're not talking about a good year, which, as we all know, from July 1 to June 30.
But do you know what a thing is? Content. Content is definitely a thing. In many ways, the only thing. And so we make no apologies for bringing you this, the Premier League's top 10 goalscorers of the calendar year for 2022. Mainly because Erling Haaland is second on the list, which is objectively funny. Harry Kane and Ivan Toney have nothing to be ashamed of, but there are plenty of other Premier League strikers who should take a long, hard look at each other. Be warned, there are disappointing numbers to come…
10. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) - 12 goals Scored Arsenal's first goal of the year, in a fine but ultimately futile performance in the 2-1 loss to Manchester City, then the opening goal in the final game of the year at Brighton to help send the Gunners seven points clear at the top of the table. Add in the World Cup and it's been a decent 12 months for the boy, hasn't it?
8=. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – 13 goalsAnd about a million assists for Haaland to go along with all those beautiful, beautiful goals.
8=. Rodrigo (Leeds) - 13 goals Scored most of his goals in 2022 in batches. Three goals in four games in March, followed by six scoreless games. Then four out of three to start this season, then six games without a goal, then five out of four before the World Cup break. Two games without a goal since…
7. James Maddison (Leicester) – 14 goals And yet, Gareth Southgate did not choose him at the World Cup, simply because he was injured. Agenda, that.
5=. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - 15 goalsSalah has had a distinctly disappointing 2022 in terms of Premier League goalscoring, but only four players have managed more goals than Liverpool's three-time Golden Boot winner.
5=. Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) - 15 goalsStill the main man in Palace's increasingly fun but inconsistent side after all these years and still delivering solid numbers to go with the flair.
4. Son Heung-min (Tottenham) - 18 goals Somehow still fourth on this list despite only scoring one Premier League game this season. Evidence of a few things. Firstly, how well he finished 2021/22 with 15 goals after the start of the year to finally clinch a share of the Golden Boot. Second, how disappointing a year 2022 has been in general for goalscorers. And third, make sure that if you only score one game, make sure you get a hat trick. It's just common sense.
3. Ivan Toney (Brentford) - 20 goals There are plenty of disappointing numbers on this list, but Toney's 20 goals for Brentford really aren't one of them. An outstanding goalscoring year that was kicked off by Christian Eriksen but continued without him with 12 goals in 16 games this season.
2. Erling Haaland (Manchester City) - 21 goals It's just absurd, isn't it? Only one player ahead and only one other even within three of a man who gave the rest of the field a seven-month head start. Quite how 'That City Team' + 'Weird 50 Goal Striker' seems to equal 'Losing the league to the real Arsenal' is a puzzle that will confuse boffins for ages to come. p>
1. Harry Kane (Tottenham) - 26 goals Even the absurd Haaland couldn't make up the six-goal deficit he carried in the New Year's game against Everton with Kane not in action before New Year's for Spurs. It does, however, give Kane a chance to get a leg up on the 2023 table, and it's no affront to Tottenham's talisman to say he's likely to need it. Another quietly excellent goalscoring year for Kane, however, who has normalized that sort of thing and remains on course to break Alan Shearer's record just in time for Haaland to break Kane's. Credit too for the neat split: 13 goals in the 2022 bit of 2021/22, and 13 more in the 2022 bit of 2022/23. You don't get that with your flashier, flashier Norwegian forwards.
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