Five games is still a small sample size, though we are getting closer to a concrete set of data.

HOT trends?

Red hot Haaland

It may be stating the obvious here, but Erling Haaland is really good at football, and a player of his talents coupled with a Manchester City chance creation machine is a match made in heaven for the Citizens.

It's a match made in HELL for the rest of the Premier League, so as is the sign of the Devil, it is fitting that through five gameweeks Haaland has racked up a total of 6.66 xG - (at the time of writing).

I promise you, I'm not making that up.

The Norweigan has scored nine times from 22 shots, which means the average xG of his shots stands at a whopping 0.30...

He has been on the end of 10 non-penalty big chances (0.35 xG+) already, converting eight of them. That's more than Bournemouth (0), Leicester (1), Aston Villa (3) and Nottingham Forest (4) have managed as teams between them.

The scoring won't stop for the frontman, and things could get silly if he and City continue at the same rate. So let's have some calculative fun shall we?

Through five gameweeks, City have averaged 2.75 xGF per game and Haaland has averaged 1.52 xG/95. That means the striker has roughly been on the end of 55% of City's game-to-game xG.

So, with 33 games remaining, if City maintain their current rate we can expect them to rack up another 90.8 xGF this season.

If Haaland stays fit and is on the end of the chances at the same rate, that would mean he would rack up another 49.9 xG, taking his season total to 56.5.

That would be above anything we have seen in a single season at Infogol since data collection began in 2014.

Again, to reitorate, this is pie in the sky stuff and we are still early in the season, but by extrapolating the current data we have, we can calculate that if Haaland and City continue at the same rate, the Norweigan would have an 82.4% chance of finishing the campaign with 50+ goals...

Against an Aston Villa team at the weekend who are struggling defensively this season, we could well see another multi-goal Haaland appearance, with the 7/2 about him SCORING 2+ appealing on the Exchange.

Everton attack picking up

Everton's attack was a major issue last season, and given the transfer dealings (selling Richarlison) and injury sustained to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, no one was expecting their attack to turn a corner.

But, credit where credit is due, Frank Lampard has made adjustments that has seen the Toffees create more chances on a regular basis.

Last term under Lampard they averaged 1.08 xGF per game, and that number has increased to 1.44 through the opening throws of the new season.

That bodes well ahead of the Merseyside derby against a Liverpool team who have looked vulnerable this season, meaning BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE looks live runner at 1.92 on the Exchange.

COLD trends?

Chelsea frontline shivvering

One teams attacking process that has gone the other way is Chelsea.

The Blues have seen a mini-overhaul all over the pitch, and their underlying numbers have taken a hit early this term.

Last season they averaged 1.66 non-pen xGF per game - which isn't a very good base figure anyway for a top four/title chasing team - and through five games this term they have managed 1.40 non-pen xGF per game.

The biggest concern to me is that, while yes it is a small sample size, Thomas Tuchel's side have had a kind schedule.

In fact, based on Infogol's pre-season strength of schedule calculator, the Blues had the fifth easiest start to the season of any team in the league, so to post such an underwhelming attacking figure is a major issue.

They host West Ham on Saturday, a team who have started to look more solid defensively after a poor start, meaning UNDER 2.5 GOALS appeals at the Bridge at 2.22 on the Exchange.

Villa and Leicester in trouble

Aston Villa's season has started especially poorly, they look to be struggling big time.

Performances as well as results have been bad, averaging 0.96 xGF and 1.78 xGA per game, breaching just 1.0+ xGF in one of their five matches.

More of the same will see them continue to lose matches and become serious relegation contenders.

Hosting Manchester City this weekend is far from ideal.

As for their fellow Midlands side Leicester, they have performed at a relegation-worthy level for longer than just the early stages of this season.

Brendan Rodgers' side finished last term as the third worst team in the league based on xP, and have picked up where they have left off.

It is their attack that is surprisingly letting the side down this term, with their defensive process improving on last season's.

They have averaged just 0.83 xGF per game which is shockingly low for a team that boasts such attacking quality.

Leicester visit Brighton on Sunday, and the Seagulls have been one of the league's better defensive sides for some time now, so a BRIGHTON WIN TO NIL is of interest at a juicy 3.5 on the Exchange.

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