MANCHESTER, England — A fully rested Erling Haaland could make it even more difficult for any Premier League rival to dislodge Manchester City from the top of the table this season.

Haaland scored his seventh Premier League hat-trick in the 4-1 win over newly promoted Ipswich on Saturday, taking his tally to four goals in his first two games of the season.

And according to City manager Pep Guardiola, the striker’s early productivity is at least partly due to Haaland having the summer off after Norway missed out on the European Championships.

“Last season he had big problems, especially at the beginning,” said Guardiola. “He was tired most of the time and had aches and pains. This time, with the rest, without the European Championship, he arrived in a good mood. The numbers are incredible.”

Haaland was the Premier League’s top scorer in each of his two seasons at City – who have won the last four titles – but his tally dropped from 36 goals in 2022/23 to 27 last season. He has now scored 10 hat-tricks in all competitions for City.

After scoring the first goal in last weekend’s 2-0 win at Chelsea, he scored two more goals in quick succession in the first half as City turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead against Ipswich in less than four minutes.

Haaland equalised with a penalty in the 12th minute and made it 3-1 in the 16th minute after he ran onto a perfect pass over the top from Kevin De Bruyne and beat goalkeeper Arijanet Muric. De Bruyne had fired the second goal into an empty net after City winger Savinho Muric had taken the ball and Haaland completed his hat-trick from outside the box in the 88th minute.

There was also a warm welcome for City midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who came on as a substitute in the 71st minute after returning to the club from Barcelona on a one-year contract.

“It feels like I’ve never been away,” said Gündogan. “It feels like home.”