Flame-haired troubadour Ed Sheeran look set to celebrate a career first when his sophomore album 'x', or 'multiply' if you're to say it out loud, tops the Billboard charts next week.

Billboard.com quotes "industry sources" by predicting that the record will sell upwards of 200,000 units by the end of June, a figure large enough to propel it directly to the summit of the charts when it's revealed on July 2nd. A sales figure north of 200,000 would mean that Sheeran would be the owner of the biggest opening for a pop record so far in 2014 and the fourth largest opening in all of music behind Coldplay and country singers Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert.

Sheeran's 'x' is his second release with Atlantic after his debut album '+' debuted at #5 on the same charts upon its release in 2012, shifting 42,000 units in a week ahead of a total of 836,000 total copies sold - but it looks clear at this point that Sheeran's second record is going to propel the singer/songwriter to a whole new level of fame.