Scoring goals is one metric we use to rank players’ legacies in the Premier League, but there is another way to separate the best goal-scorers of all time.
Since the league’s inception in 1992, there have been 34 players who have joined the exclusive 100 club with 24 of those being natural central strikers.
The rest are made up of attacking wingers, attacking midfielders and, in Frank Lampard’s case, one central midfielder. While fans love to debate which players rank higher in terms of their legacies in this league, match-winning goals may well be a factor that adds a further layer.
With that in mind, we’ve decided to look at the players with the most match-winners in Premier League history, ranked in order, to hopefully raise some interesting discussions about how it could determine legacies.
10. Ryan Giggs – 42
With 42 of his 108 strikes coming as winners (39% of his goals were match-winners), Giggs proved over his career that he could make the difference when it mattered. Of course, we all knew that already without having to look at the numbers.
Playing more as a traditional winger in a time where there was less of a focus on ‘numbers’, he was a key figure in Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, playing the majority of his career as a consistent wide player before evolving into a midfielder later in his career.
9. Dwight Yorke – 45
His best days certainly came at Manchester United, as he formed a lethal partnership with Andy Cole that shot them to the treble. However, while he was most clinical at United, he netted his highest tally of goals for Aston Villa.
There were three goals combined at the end of his career for both Birmingham City and Sunderland and a short spell at Blackburn, but his best days were at Old Trafford, and he was known across his career for scoring important goals – and 37% being winners is the second-highest on this list.
8. Andy Cole – 46
Rather fittingly, Cole edges out his former striker partner with just one more solitary goal. Perhaps the most underrated striker in Premier League history, only one of Cole’s 187 league goals were penalties.
Plus, he had a ratio of one in four that were winners, which is certainly a strong return given he featured for seven clubs (he failed to score at Sunderland in seven appearances). His spells at United and Newcastle United were spellbinding, and he managed to make a difference in the later part of his career, too.
7. Sergio Aguero – 48
Undoubtedly, Aguero scored the most important and incredible match-winning goal in the competition’s history. His last-gasp winner against QPR in the dying seconds of the 2011/12 campaign earned Manchester City their first Premier League title, and it may well be the greatest moment in league history.
Outside of that, he was a brilliant goalscorer who mastered all different types of finishes, with a ratio of a little over one in four being defining strikes. One of the best strikers of the 2010s, the Argentinian, left an ineligible mark on the league.
6. Mohamed Salah – 55
The only player on the list to still be active in the league, Salah has been a phenomenal goalscorer across his time at Liverpool and, impressively, he has managed all of these goals from the right wing. A perfect example of the modern player, Salah is a goal-hungry machine whose figures will be timeless.
With 30% of his strikes being match-winners, it is clear that he is a big-game and big-moment player and he has been fundamental to the success Liverpool have had since he arrived in 2017. More records could fall if he extends his current contract past this summer but his legacy is already secured.
5. Thierry Henry – 59
In most people’s eyes, Henry is the best player to grace the league and his numbers certainly back up such a claim. With 34% of his goals being match-winners, Henry stands near the top of this list in that regard, adding further weight to the claims that he is the greatest.
At his best, he was a terrifying figure who used to give John Terry, most people’s claim as the best central defender in the competition’s history, sleepless nights before a game. Capable of netting with either foot, he was always a threat and if his team were struggling, he could always take the ball and beat three or four players to score, or just fire in a shot from distance – such is the quality of the great Frenchman.
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4. Harry Kane – 61
While Kane is still active, he resides in Germany, where he has gone onto break goalscoring records at Bayern Munich. During his time in England, he was a regular scorer for Tottenham, and it felt more like an inevitability that he would eventually break Alan Shearer’s great record before his move – he may still return to do so in the future.
Given that he has 213 goals, his percentage of match-winning goals was always going to be lower, but it is no surprise that three of the top four on this list have breached the 200-goal mark. Kane could score every manner of goal and remains one of the very best we’ve ever seen.
3. Frank Lampard – 61
Despite all the legendary names on this list, Lampard sitting third on a list mostly dominated by strikers and top wingers is simply incredible.
While many like to call him an attacking midfielder, and he was given license to roam, he was a central midfielder often deployed in a 4-3-3 formation and made a career off arriving late into the box from deeper positions.
Of course, he was a master penalty kick taker as well but his career legacy is certainly defined by being the greatest goalscoring midfielder that England has perhaps ever seen.
What is more impressive is that 34% of them were match winners, placing him in the top few players on the list – and it may well be a statistic to bring up in the old-age debates of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history.
Manchester City's Frank Lampard after the Premier League match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, London. Saturday January 31, 2015.
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2. Wayne Rooney – 66
One of the standout players in Premier League history, Wayne Rooney, truly could do it all.
The claims from some fans that he never truly lived up to his potential are largely poppycock, he was a stunning individual and team player who also remains the only player to score over 200 goals and provide 100 assists.
Truly complete in all phases of play, he was always a player who defined big moments and big games, regardless of whether he was on the scoresheet.
One of his most famous match-winners is one of his best-ever goals: the overhead kick in the Manchester derby remains one of the most iconic in the competition’s history.
1. Alan Shearer – 68
It makes sense that the league’s record would have the most match winners; Alan Shearer’s 260 goal record is simply mind-blowing, and it is a testament to his consistency, hunger and ability to come back from two serious injuries.
While his percentage is the lowest on the list, he still fired Blackburn Rovers to the title and has set numerous records that may never be broken.
He was an incredibly natural finisher that scored the majority of his goals in the box and it makes sense he would be top of another goal-scoring list such as this.