Premier League hotshots set to face off in Carabao Cup | OneFootball

Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Brentford brings with it a blockbuster subplot: Erling Haaland versus Igor Thiago, the only players to hit double figures in the Premier League this season, squaring off in a duel that could define the tie.

Haaland, fresh from a devastating double at Crystal Palace, has climbed to 22 goals in 23 club appearances this campaign — with 17 of those strikes in the league. The Norwegian continues to dominate almost every attacking metric that matters: he leads the Premier League for shots, shots on target and xG per 90, while boasting a razor-sharp 28.81% shot conversion rate.

Haaland may average fewer than 12 passes-per-game in the top flight this term, and average fewer touches per 90 than any City player, but there has been no one on the planet more adept at sticking the ball in the net. 

With 11 Premier League goals this season, however, Brentford's Thiago has measured up to Haaland better than any other forward in the division — and has actually surpassed him in the conversion stakes, finding the net with 31.83% of his attempts.

After last year’s injury-hit campaign, Thiago has exploded into life with 12 goals from 17 appearances, across all competitions, and recently scooped the Premier League Player of the Month award for November.

Clinical off either foot, Thiago has proved reliable from the penalty spot — scoring five penalties already this season — and ranks among the most aerially dominant forwards in the division… alongside Haaland.

Physical, mobile and deadly in front of goal, the head-to-head between Haaland and Thiago promises to be compelling should they, as expected, both start on Wednesday.

Elite finishers can swing tight knockout games — and Haaland and Thiago will both be gunning not just to win the battle of the Premier League’s hottest strikers, but to fire their sides into the Carabao Cup’s final four.