Pink Un Podcast on Borja Sainz's goal-scoring form

The Spanish winger leads the goal-scoring charts by three goals after a rip-roaring start to the campaign that has caught even head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup by surprise. 

His latest brace in a crazy 3-3 draw against Middlesbrough has seen him earn even more praise, with Sainz searching for continued improvement as the Championship campaign hurtles towards a busy Christmas period. 

Sainz's form was discussed on the latest edition of the Pink Un podcast - a snippet from the latest episode is available below.

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CS: The audacity of that second strike speaks volumes about where he is at the moment in terms of confidence. That is obviously 10 league goals, three more than anybody in the Championship, the next one is Josh Maja on seven before a group of four players on five goals. To have at least double the amount of goals as the players sitting third in the top goal-scorers chart is absolutely ridiculous. 

SS: I don't think anyone expected when they said Borja Sainz needed to step up that it would be 10 in 12 games plus one in the League Cup. He's stepped up in a big way and is absolutely full of confidence. What was especially encouraging is that he didn't have his best game and I'm struggling to think of what he did well beyond those two goals, but if you score two goals like that then you don't need to bother with anything else. The quality was unbelievable, the second goal in particular. The first touch made it so good for me because you can tell he's already thinking about scoring a goal, which speaks to that confidence. He gets the ball close to the byline, and the first touch is immediately about creating the angle needed to score a goal. There is a very small part of the goal that he can hit, and he puts it right in the apex. If you're going to have someone digging you out with those moments, they don't need to be perfect all the time. It feels like he's gone from a decent player to an absolute top-echelon star for Norwich. He's probably added seven or eight million to his valuation in the last couple of months alone. It feels increasingly like he is the next cab off the rank in terms of those big sales, and maybe I shouldn't be throwing it forward to that already, but everyone is beginning to wake up to the fantastic player he is. You just wonder if it's ever going to run out, if not then it's hard not to be in the promotion or play-off mix when you have a playing that well along with the players he is combining well. We're running out of superlatives to describe Sainz and having to put five to ten minutes aside every podcast to talk about him. 

CS: When you talk about a player so much, and they've been so good, it can be almost difficult to put into context because it becomes the norm. Perhaps the best thing to put it into context is the stat about only two players in the top four leagues who have scored 10 goals at this stage of the season - one is Erling Haaland, and the other is Borja Sainz. That is mega. What he has done in terms of his goal-scoring return is incredible, and his confidence is special. I spoke to him post-match and he said 'I believe that everytime that I shoot, I am going to score', you can see why he's getting into those positions and believing he can score. To flip the conversation, Adam, is there a bit of a worry that a very high proportion of their goals at the moment are being scored or assisted by either Josh Sargent or Borja Sainz? There is going to need to be goals arrive from other areas. 

Sainz and Josh Sargent have forged an excellent relationship at Norwich City. (Image: Daniel Hambury/Focus Images Ltd) AH: If they got an injury, and unfortunate situations happen, then they will need others to stand up. I think they have the options, though. Kaide Gordon is a player that I'm excited to see more of, and unfortunately for him, there are others in other areas that are playing well at the minute. Maybe he can push a claim on that right side with Ante Crnac, but he's clearly not in the physical state to start at the moment. He's direct and got the goal against Hull through having that instinct about him. Liverpool picked him up at an early age and I believe he could also chip in with goals and assists. Aside from that, especially when you take Marcelino Nunez out of the team, and I want to see him push the assist numbers up, then there has to be some concern about their output. If you take Sargent out of the mix, especially with Ashley Barnes still out, that would be a major concern. That link-up with Sainz is almost getting as important as Buendia and Pukki or Hoolahan and Holt levels. 

CS: While Sainz is feeling as confident as he is and scoring like he is, the challenge for Norwich is to keep getting into those situations, especially as teams begin to try and nullify him. That's what I like about his goals - they are different and the strands in the build-up are similar. It's some start of the season he's had, but now it's all about consistency.