Martin Keown believes Harry Kane will want to show Erling Haaland that he is the Premier League’s best striker. Tottenham Hotspur play host to Manchester City on Sunday evening.
The strikers are not only the top goalscorers in the top-flight this season but also Europe’s top-five leagues. No player entering the weekend has found the back of the net in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain’s top tiers more than Haaland. He has 25 from 19 games.
In second place comes Kane with 16 goals from 21 Premier League appearances so far this season. Haaland also betters his Spurs counterpart for assists with three over the England captain’s one. While the Norwegian and Kane have both scored in 14 of their appearances.
Only AFC Bournemouth, Liverpool, Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester United have so far stopped Haaland from scoring in the Premier League. But he has also hit hat-tricks against Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Wolves – one shy of the record.
Alan Shearer currently holds the record for the most hat-tricks in a single Premier League season with five in 1995/96. Kane came within one of matching the then-Blackburn Rovers hitman’s haul in 2016/17. He is the only player to finish an English top-flight term on four.
Kane’s failed transfer to Manchester City will fire the Tottenham ace up for Keown
Kane is yet to hit a hat-trick this season and has also been kept goalless in seven games so far. The 29-year-old has failed to score in fixtures against Southampton, West Ham United, Manchester United, Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester City in the league.
Haaland helped Manchester City beat Kane and Tottenham 4-2 on January 19. Their £51m summer signing from Borussia Dortmund headed in the Citizens’ second to equalise at 2-2 after trailing 2-0. Dejan Kulusevski and Emerson Royal put Spurs in front before half time.
Now, Keown feels Kane will have a point to prove to Haaland when Manchester City visit Tottenham on Sunday. He also believes the fact that Kane wanted to join the Citizens back in 2021, per The Telegraph, will get the Spurs striker fired up to show he is the best striker.
“Kane will be fired up for this match,” Keown wrote in his column for the Daily Mail. “He is second only to Haaland in the Premier League’s scoring charts and has watched the new kid on the block flying at City – the club he wanted to join himself in 2021.
“These two record-chasers will go head-to-head on [Sunday] and Kane will want to show, for 90 minutes at least, that he can still be the league’s top marksman.”
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