EXCLUSIVE: Sky Sports pundit and ex-Arsenal ace Alan Smith says Liverpool striker Alexander Isak can beat Erling Haaland to the Premier League's Golden Boot this season

Former Arsenal striker and Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith believes that Alexander Isak can beat Erling Haaland to the Premier League's Golden Boot this season.

Isak has scored five times in the top flight so far for Andoni Iraola. In each of the league games that Liverpool has emerged victorious, the Swede has been the matchwinner, netting against Ipswich, Bournemouth and Brentford — all games away from home.

Though Manchester City has the guilty verdict and potential punishments looming over it, Haaland has scored eight times. The Norwegian leads the scoring charts at the moment, with Isak joint-second alongside Joao Pedro.

"I think he can (outscore Haaland) — even when he's not playing well, he pops up and gets a goal," Smith told Liverpool.com.

"Isak didn’t play great at the weekend by all accounts, but he tucked one away. He's a brilliant finisher. And Haaland's a bit like that.

"You won't see him sometimes, and then he'll pop up. He's got that ability. They need him, Liverpool. They need him. And yeah, he'll get a good few goals.

"I mean, obviously Hugo Ekitike's out, so they need that goal-getter. They've got other players that can score, of course they have.

"But Isak's got that knowledge through the middle. You'll want to see him contribute a little bit more. But yeah, I think they need him to stay fit."

Florian Wirtz has looked better in the last few games, and Cody Gakpo has now returned from injury. Bradley Barcola, meanwhile, scored his first senior hat-trick last week.

"(Barcola has) been a little bit up and down," Smith, speaking on behalf of Best Betting Sites, continues. "I think people expect instant results because he came for so much money.

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"He's still fairly young. He got the hat-trick against LASK in the Champions League and then started on the bench last night, and Iraola can do that, just dip him in and out at the start.

"He's got Rio Ngumoha, who's playing really well, so that's been a big plus point. And maybe they could compete for the same position, but I think Barcola will do well."