Be it one match or an entire season, a fast start can often be indicative as to how events will play out, although that was not the case for champions Liverpool in the recent Community Shield.
The Reds needed just four minutes to draw first blood through Hugo Ekitike's fine finish, but Arne Slot and co eventually had to make do with runners-up medals, succumbing to Crystal Palace's penalty superiority after a 2-2 draw with the Eagles in the Wembley sunshine.
After four days of rest and recovery, Liverpool will raise the curtain on the new Premier League season at home to Bournemouth on Friday night - a Bournemouth side who have welcomed Philip Billing back to the club after his title-winning exploits with Napoli.
The Danish midfielder is highly unlikely to make an appearance from the first whistle at Anfield, but he famously did so at the Emirates against Arsenal in 2022-23, where he scored the second-quickest goal the competition has ever seen.
To mark the start of the 2025-26 season, Sports Mole counts down the 10 fastest goals ever scored in the Premier League.
Martin Taylor unsuccessfully tried to see the ball out for an early goal kick, but Kevin Davies managed to steal in and prod the ball back into the danger area for the arriving Nolan, whose vicious first-time drive rippled the roof of the net.
The Englishman's strike preceded a phenomenal Blackburn fightback as Bolton fell 3-1 down, but there would be another outrageous twist to the tale as the Trotters ended up prevailing 4-3, with Nolan scoring both the first and last goals of the night.
9. Chris Sutton - Everton vs. Blackburn, April 1995- 12.94 seconds
Sutton won the first header from a long ball forward, before Shearer then nodded the ball back into his teammate's path, and the former did the rest; taking the ball forward with a neat touch before clinically finding the bottom corner.
Shearer would go on to notch one himself just six minutes later, and even through Graham Stuart halved the deficit towards the break with a long-range stunner, Rovers' early show was enough for all three points en route to Premier League glory.
8. Dwight Yorke - Coventry City vs. Aston Villa, September 1995 - 12.16 seconds
A trip to Coventry City saw Villa immediately surge down the right through Ian Taylor, who had time to pick out a cross to Yorke, and the former Trinidad and Tobago international directed a bullet header into the top corner.
Yorke's goal would seemingly be the only strike to separate the two sides on the day, but inside the final 10 minutes of normal time, Savo Milosevic wrapped up the win with a fine brace - his second goal was assisted by his strike partner.
7. Mark Viduka - Charlton Athletic vs. Leeds United, March 2001 - 11.90 seconds
During the business end of the 2000-01 season, Leeds took a trip to the Valley to meet Charlton Athletic, where Alan Smith headed a long ball down into the path of Viduka, who was criminally given acres of space to pick his spot and curl home into the bottom corner.
Smith would then go from provider to goalscorer to ensure a 2-1 win for the Whites after Shaun Bartlett had drawn the Addicks level, but Leeds' quest for another season in the Champions League would ultimately end in failure.
As has been the case with several goals on this list already, the goal was sparked by an attacker winning a header from a long ball over the top - this time Harry Kane flicked on Jan Vertonghen's hoofed pass - and even though Dele Alli's effort was blocked by Chris Smalling, the rebound fell kindly for Christian Eriksen to score.
The Lilywhites would go on to notch a second before the break courtesy of a Phil Jones own goal, and Eriksen's effort remains the quickest goal ever scored at the new Wembley Stadium, just a couple of seconds quicker than Ilkay Gundogan's FA Cup final opener in 2023.
5. Alan Shearer - Newcastle United vs. Manchester City, January 2003 - 10.52 seconds
Timed at just 0.02 seconds quicker than Eriksen's for Tottenham, Shearer charged down an attempted punt forward from City goalkeeper Carlo Nash, thereby giving himself an empty net to tap into.
In fact, Shearer's 10-second strike was the quickest Premier League home goal for 22 years, and with Kane currently smashing Bundesliga records for fun, the former's unrivalled tally of 260 strikes in the competition remains safe for now.
4. Abdoulaye Doucoure - Everton vs. Leicester City, February 2025 - 10.18 seconds
Straight from kickoff, England number one Jordan Pickford sent a searching ball forward into Foxes territory, which bounced once before being latched onto by a charging Abdoulaye Doucoure with a perfect chest touch.
The midfielder probably could not believe the position he found himself in after just 10.18 seconds, but he kept his composure to net the Toffees' quickest-ever Premier League goal, one that set the Toffees on their way to a 4-0 triumph.
3. Ledley King - Bradford City vs. Tottenham, December 2000 - 9.82 seconds
However, one of those strikes stood as the quickest goal in Premier League history for over 18 years, as during a trip to Bradford City in December 2000, the centre-back picked up a loose ball in the middle of the park, casually sauntered forward and found the bottom corner with the aid of a deflection.
King's slightly fortuitous goal was the first to be scored in the Premier League before the 10-second mark, and the defender's iconic '26' shirt remains unofficially retired in his honour.
2. Philip Billing - Arsenal vs. Bournemouth, March 2023 - 9.11 seconds
Gary O'Neil's men dashed forward and overloaded the penalty area straight from kickoff in an attempt to catch Arsenal out, and it proved to be a genius move from the Cherries, as Dango Ouattara's low cross somehow evaded a sea of red shirts and fell at the feet of Billing, who could not miss from a few yards out.
The Dane's 9.11-second finish officially became the second-fastest goal the competition has ever seen, but the afternoon ended in abject excruciation for Bournemouth, as Reiss Nelson's spectacular injury-time winner completed a monumental Arsenal comeback.
1. Shane Long - Watford vs. Southampton, April 2019 - 7.69 seconds
Reinstated to the Southampton starting lineup for a trip to Watford in April 2019, Long took a lesson out of the Shearer playbook by charging down a clearance - this one from Hornets defender Craig Cathcart - and after the ball bounced off his backside, he comfortably shrugged off a desperate Cathcart and lifted the ball over Ben Foster with exemplary composure.
The Irishman's 7.69-second opener at Vicarage Road knocked King off his Premier League fastest goals perch, and while the Saints would then succumb to a 90th-minute Gray equaliser, Long departed with his name etched into footballing folklore.
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