Erling Haaland will be as fit as a butcher’s dog when he runs onto the pitch for Manchester City’s Premier League fixture with Everton on Saturday seeking to extend his remarkable goal spree for club and country.
The sensational striker has scored in 11 of his 12 matches so far this season with the only blank being the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium and even then he went close with a header and a shot he would usually bury.
He was originally scheduled to play in Norway’s international friendly with New Zealand in Oslo on Tuesday but was allowed to return home and rest following a hat-trick in Saturday’s 5-0 win World Cup qualifier against Israel when he failed to convert a penalty before fluffing the retake.
The 25-year-old had previously hammered home five in the 11-1 victory over Moldova in another Group I romp and before that he chalked up the only goal of the game in the home friendly against Finland, making him just as crucial to Norway manager Stale Solbakken as he is to City boss Pep Guardiola.
Haaland has scored 51 goals in 46 internationals and is the top scorer in the European qualification goal charts with 12, six clear of his nearest rivals, and thanks to his prowess Norway only need to win their final group home game against whipping boys Estonia or draw in the last group game against second-placed Italy to reach the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998 when they advanced to the knockout stages in France.
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City are fifth in the Premier League with 13 points leaving them just three adrift of early pacesetters Arsenal with the Toffees two points and two places behind in eighth ahead of the encounter at the Etihad.
Haaland has scored four times in as many outings against Everton, despite missing a penalty against them in the 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Boxing Day last year, and is the top-flight’s leading scorer with nine from seven games so it would be something of a shock if he did not add to his tally at the weekend.
Bookmakers do not count own goals in their first goal markets so for punting purposes he has struck first on eight occasions as Anan Khalaili put the ball into his own net to open the floodgates for Norway against Israel. Back Haaland at 11/4 to break the deadlock against David Moyes’ side and at 3/4 with Betway to score at any time.
The Toffees will be weakened without on-loan Jack Grealish in their ranks as he cannot play against his parent club and City to lead HT/FT is worth following at 23/20 with BoyleSports.
Golf odds
Europe’s Ryder Cup heroes Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry are among an all-star field teeing-off at this week’s India Championship in Delhi and the latter is our each-way selection at 20/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
Ben Griffin, who was on the losing United States team at Bethpage Black, is worth an e/w dabble at 18/1with bet365 to be the clubhouse leader after the first round.
Ice hockey bets
The Edmonton Oilers have been second best to the Florida Panthers in the last two NHL seasons but can finally get their hands on the Stanley Cup at 8/1 with BoyleSports as the new season gets under way on the other side of the Atlantic.