In football, goalscorers rely on their teammates to supply them with the necessary service so they can score goals for their club or country, and hopefully win games by doing so. This makes those in more creative roles become crucial to a team's success. In the Premier League, this could be the difference between a club winning the title, or falling just short.
Only nine times has a player averaged 16 or more assists to their teammates in a single Premier League season. The current record stands at 20 assists, first set in the 2002/03 season, before being matched in the 2019/20 campaign.
That record is under severe threat, though, with Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka having already amassed 10 assists before the first half of the season.
GIVEMESPORT has now detailed some of the best displays of individual brilliance that have graced the English top flight over the years. One particular player features on this list four times, highlighting just how instrumental he has been to his team's success over the last few years.
Most Assists in a Premier League Season
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9 Kevin De Bruyne - 16
Manchester City - 2017/18
Kevin De Bruyne - 2017-18
After registering the most Premier League assists in the 2016/17 season, Kevin De Bruyne would continue on his sparkling form, creating another 16 assists for his Manchester City teammates, though it was two fewer than his previous campaign. He would also score eight goals.
While the Belgian led the way, the top four assist-makers that season came from Man City, with his teammates, Leroy Sane (15), David Silva (11) and Raheem Sterling (11) all getting in on the act as City won their first league title since the 2013/14 season, and their fifth in club history.
That season was historic as City became the first ever team to tally 100 points in an English top flight season after winning 32 of their 38 games. Long-time rivals Liverpool have come close to recording three-digit points, but fell short in their 2019-20 title-winning season, scoring 99 points.
8 Kevin De Bruyne - 16
Manchester City - 2022/23
Kevin De Bruyne - 2022-23
De Bruyne matched his assists tally from the 2017/18 season five seasons later, showcasing his longevity as one of the Premier League's greatest ever midfielders. He finished the season having recorded four more assists than both Leandro Trossard, and Mohamed Salah, who tied for second-place with 12 assists that campaign.
What made this season slightly different for the Belgian and his team was that they were in a much closer title-race, with Arsenal hunting them down closely, and falling off right at the end, with the Sky Blues being victorious by a mere five points.
That season, their goal difference was striking, with a plus-61 being created due to De Bruyne's contribution, with him scoring seven additional goals that season.
7 Cesc Fabregas - 17
Arsenal - 2007/08
Cesc Fabregas 2007-08
Cesc Fabregas was just 20-years-old when he had a 2007/08 season to remember, tallying a league-leading 17 assists for Arsenal, three ahead of Ashley Young's 14 in what was his debut season for Aston Villa.
The Spaniard would also score seven goals, placing in sixth place for most goals scored by a midfielder that season, though it would only be enough to help his Arsenal side secure a place in the Champions League the following season. This came after they finished third in a very close title race between eventual winners Manchester United (87 points) and runners-up Chelsea (85 points), scoring 83 points.
For Fabregas personally, it was a huge season, as he would not only showcase himself as one of Arsenal's greatest ever passers, but he followed up his stellar individual league campaign with Spain at the 2008 European Championships, where his three assists - the most in the tournament - led his country to the final, which they would go on to win 1-0.
6 Frank Lampard - 18
Chelsea - 2004/05
Frank Lampard - 2004-05
One of the greatest goalscoring midfielders in football history, Frank Lampard was also one of the most creative, and in the 2004/05 Premier League season, the England international would lead the league in assists by quite a considerable margin, assisting 18 goals. This was four more than Thierry Henry, who would also lead the league in goals scored that same season.
For Lampard, he would register 13 goals, which was tied for the fourth-most in the league that season with strikers Jermain Defoe and Blues teammate, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Chelsea would go on to win their first ever Premier League title that season, finishing 12 points clear of runners-up Arsenal, after the roles were reversed from the season prior. This would be the first of two consecutive titles won by the Blues under Jose Mourinho, with Lampard becoming more of a goalscorer the following season, scoring 16 goals and dishing out just eight league assists.
5 Kevin De Bruyne - 18
Manchester City - 2016/17
Kevin De Bruyne - 2016-17
In just his second season with the Sky Blues, De Bruyne registered his second-highest assists tally to date.
Coming off a debut season in which he recorded seven goals and nine assists in City's run to fourth place in the 2015/16 Premier League season, the Belgian midfielder did his best to spur his team further up the standings, recording a league-high 18 assists. This was two ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Christian Eriksen. De Bruyne would also score six goals.
But Spurs would pip City to second in the standings by eight points, with Chelsea triumphing over all the competition that season, winning the title by seven points.
4 Cesc Fabregas - 18
Chelsea - 2014/15
Cesc Fabregas Chelsea
Fabregas is the only player to feature on this list who has registered the most assists in a Premier League season for multiple clubs, where, in the 2014/15 season, he recorded 18 assists for Chelsea. This came during his first season with the club, having re-joined the English top flight after three seasons away playing in La Liga for Barcelona.
His 18 assists was quite a considerable margin over the next-best assist maker, the Spainard's compatriot, Santi Carzorla, who mustered just 11 assists that season, and who was one of just five total players, including Fabregas, who tallied double-digit assists.
Fabregas' goal contributions from the midfield proved crucial as he would help the Blues to win their first league title in five seasons, and the first of his two career titles, both of which came with Chelsea.
This was also helped by the fact that the London outfit had two of the league's highest goalscorers that season, with Diego Costa (21 goals) the third-highest scorer in the league, and Eden Hazard (14 goals) tied for sixth place.
3 Mesut Ozil - 19
Arsenal - 2015/16
Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil was a vastly underrated playmaker, but was crucial to Arsenal's midfield during his seven-year spell in north London with Arsenal.
But his biggest individual contribution to the club - at least statistically - came in the 2015/16 Premier League season, where his 19 assists helped the Gunners achieve their highest finish in the league since the 2004/05 campaign, finishing second to Leicester City in their miracle season.
The 2014 World Cup winner registered six more assists than Tottenham's Eriksen (13), which helped them take the runner-up position over their north London rivals by a single point, though still 10 points behind Leicester.
By the time his tenure with the club came to an end, he had established himself as one of the greatest German players to ever play in the English top flight, a true testament to his impact on the club.
2 Kevin De Bruyne - 20
Manchester City - 2019/20
Kevin De Bruyne - 2019-20
That man again, Kevin De Bruyne, recorded his highest-ever assists tally in the 2019/20 campaign, matching a Premier League record of 20 assists in a single season. He also scored 13 goals, the second-most he has scored in a league campaign in his career, which was the most by a midfielder that season, and 15th overall in the league.
Ironically, this was the one season that Man City failed to lift the trophy in a title race, with Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp being the superior of the two sides, scoring 99 points to Man City's 81 points, seeing them fail to become back-to-back-to-back champions.
Nonetheless, as we now know, De Bruyne would go on to help City win four straight after this somewhat disappointing campaign - cementing himself as one of the greatest passers of the 21st century - with the possibility of winning a fifth consecutive title still not entirely ruled out.
1 Thierry Henry - 20
Arsenal - 2002/03
Thierry Henry 2002-03
To date, Thierry Henry still holds the record with De Bruyne for the most assists in a single Premier League season, though he set the record first, having done so during the 2002/03 season with Arsenal.
Coming off a 2001/02 season in which his 24 goals sealed the title over nearest rivals Liverpool by seven points, Henry added more playmaking to his game the following season, registering 20 assists, as he sought to help Arsenal go back-to-back.
However, despite being the league's second-highest goalscorer, notching 24 goals, one behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, his 44 total goal involvements was in vain, as Man United claimed their 15th league title, edging past the Gunners by five points.
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt, Premier League, UEFA and FBRef - accurate as of 06/12/2024.
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