Time and time again, the Premier League's very best have threatened to usurp Thierry Henry's single-season assist record of 20.
Discourse surrounding the record has re-emerged as a result of Bukayo Saka's blistering start to the 2024/25 season. The Arsenal superstar has notched an impressive ten assists through 13 games this term, with only Mesut Ozil's haul of 11 by this point of the season bettering Saka's current pace.
The languid German playmaker seemed destined to smash Henry's record in 2015/16 and would end the campaign with a record-setting 146 chances created, but would collapse on the assists front during the second half of the season and end with 19. He had 15 in 17, for Christ's sake!
Kevin De Bruyne would match Henry's haul in 2019/20, curiously during a season which didn't conclude with a barrage of sky-blue shirts holding the title aloft, and smartly spread his assists out across the campaign. Two years later, the great Belgian had nine in as many games but ended with 18.
Saka's current pace is thus not breaking new ground, and we must express caution in declaring the smashing of the single-season assist record an inevitability. Underlying metrics point towards unsustainability, with Saka recording ten assists despite boasting a mere 4.8 expected assists (per FBRef), but the England international has reached a stage of inevitability. The very best defy such metrics.
The winger's pinpoint set-piece delivery has contributed to 30% of his current haul, with Arsenal's supremacy from such situations surely ensuring that Saka is good for at least a few more tee-ups with his excellent inswinging delivery before the season's out. No defender has scored more goals in Europe's top five leagues than Gabriel, who's converted from Saka corners against Arsenal and Manchester City this term.
No centre-back in Europe's top five leagues has scored more goals than Gabriel since 2020 💪
𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐱 🤩 pic.twitter.com/jRqhTV9Apu
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 30, 2024
Moreover, the telepathy between the wide man and returning captain Martin Odegaard means Saka is more likely to find himself with the ball in behind opposing defences at greater regularity. Sequences such as those which led to Kai Havertz's tap-in against Sporting CP and the dismantling of West Ham in the first half of Arsenal's 5-2 victory are likely to become common features of Arsenal's play when Saka is working in tandem with his captain.
The 23-year-old is producing in the final third at rates we expect of the game's very best. Saka's doubtlessly entered the world-class sphere and can break a record that's stood for 21 years - being matched just once. After years of false dawns, this voodoo milestone might finally succumb.
Saka needs 11 more in 25 games to make Premier League history.
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