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One of the hardest things to do in football is to put the ball in the back of the net. Yet, every season we're treated to some cracking goals by sublime attacks. It's the effort of some truly fine minds that sets up an attack that can unlock the sternest defence, shatter unbreakable walls, and blow away immovable objects.
These attacking forces are sometimes built over a summer, in other cases maybe it takes years to put together a well-oiled attack. The commonality though? The fear it strikes in the opposition to see a combination of names on the teamsheet. The Premier League has seen its share of memorable strike forces through the years.
Liverpool fans will reminisce about the 2013/14 season when a front three of Sterling - Suarez - Sturridge terrorized defences in the league with Philippe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard playing supporting cast from midfield.
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Manchester United fans will regale anyone willing to listen with tales of Rooney - Tevez - Ronaldo from the 2007-08 season. Most Arsenal fans would give away their prized possessions to see Henry link up with Bergkamp at Highbury once more.
Teams are now starting to break the glass ceiling every season for heights of goalscoring. The strikeforce's we have in the league today will be just as iconic tomorrow. We attempt to rank the attacks we have in the league this season.
#5 Manchester United
The Red Devils had a roller coaster of a season in 2018/19 as they saw fortunes nosedive towards the end of Jose Mourinho's tenure, rose like a phoenix from the ashes under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and become favorites for third place before a dip in form saw them lose out on top four altogether.
Who was at the center of that storm at United? Paul Pogba. The player, equally touted as their savior and destroyer, was their top scorer last season, led their table for assists, passes completed and shots on goal as well.
Will Pogba be central to Manchester United's campaign once again this season? There's plenty of uncertainty at the club not only regarding this but also the future of Romelu Lukaku.
Granted, this isn't the most conducive atmosphere for an attack to thrive, but Ole's reign has brought positivity to the club and fans despite the poor finish to 2018/19. The summer saw Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka become Old Trafford's newest arrival to add to the build-up.
Ole's side are likely to line up with Rashford leading the line, with James, Martial, Lingard, and perhaps Andreas Pereira all the supporting cast. Luke Shaw and Wan-Bissaka both look promising in preseason and are likely to be an integral attacking avenue for United. Add to that Pogba's spark in midfield and the picture starts to look coherent.
Not to be forgotten, Alexis Sanchez had a fairly decent outing for Chile in the Copa America campaign during the summer. He's currently recovering from an injury he suffered towards the tail end of that campaign, but if he can revive that spark in his game, this United side could blow past the 65 goals mark they hit in the Premier League last season.
#4 Tottenham Hotspur
It's easy to forget how close Spurs were in the title race last season. They were contenders till late February when they suffered a string of losses and draws that saw their Premier League challenge deteriorate and a top-four finish was seriously questioned.
For a side that remained inactive in the window for so long, Mauricio Pochettino's men have been an impressive attacking unit. Had their spearhead Harry Kane not suffered injuries last season that kept him out for long spells, his 17 goals from 28 appearances indicate that he may well have been the top scorer in the league last season, had he played a full quota of games.
Spurs did go on to show last season that they could win without Harry Kane. They found important goals from the likes of Spurs' ever-reliable performers Son Heung-Min and Christian Eriksen. The key difference-maker for them, however, was Lucas Moura, who started the season well and ended it in even better fashion for the Londoners.
With this unit of four in attack, Spurs will be fairly confident of picking up more than their share of goals this campaign. Their question marks lie in the full-back areas and the uncertain future of Eriksen - issues that they already seem to be addressing with the prominent links to Betis' Giovani Lo Celso and relegated Fulham's highly-rated Ryan Sessegnon.
Knocking at the door of this attack are Dele Alli and Erik Lamela, who have shown their quality for Spurs before and when on song, they provide a more dynamic look to this Spurs attack, which is looking healthier and more threatening by the day.
#3 Arsenal
The Gunners scored 73 goals in the league last season, and nearly half of those were scored by two gentlemen who seem to have struck up a relationship in attack - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
Aubameyang finished as joint top-scorer of the league last season with 22 goals and Lacazette finished with 13 goals and 8 assists (the highest for Arsenal in the league).
It's a relationship that Arsenal boss Unai Emery will hope to exploit this season in attack. His task will be to ensure there's a steady supply of chances for these men to do what they do best. Arsenal are sorely missing a link between midfield and attack, a role that Mesut Ozil usually is happy to fill, but he can't seem to find his best under Emery so far.
Arsenal will also need to find a third player to bear the responsibility for goals next season if they're serious about challenging for top spots. Henrikh Mkhitaryan bagged 6 goals in the league last time around but he'll have to find some extra goals or Emery will have to look elsewhere within the squad with the likes of Iwobi or one of the youngsters to provide.
That's where their new signing, Gabriel Martinelli might step in. His finishing isn't top-drawer yet, but he's got blistering pace that can be deadly to Arsenal's opponents, especially on the break.
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha may be another avenue for Arsenal if they do manage to land him. He netted 10 goals last season, and his zip and creativity in attack may be able to unlock a few more goals for this side as well.
#2 Manchester City
Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, and Ilkay Gundogan. Need I write further?
Manchester City have an uncanny ability to find and create goals. It doesn't seem to matter who scores them, but every attack for City seems a likely goal. Their strength in depth is unparalleled, and they seem to be able to switch players in the starting line-up each time without losing quality. It's the real strength of this side, one that was on full display last season.
Their Player of the Season of 2017/18, scoring 8 goals and registering 16 assists in the league alone, Kevin De Bruyne missed large chunks of the 2018/19 season through injury. With any other team, that would've dented their performances, but City aren't just any team. Up steps Bernardo Silva and plugs that gaping hole in the team with 13 goals and 11 assists.
The magician at the helm, Pep Guardiola, has got Raheem Sterling firing on all cylinders for two seasons now. It's hard to tell with his 18 goals and 11 assists in 2017/18 and 17 goals and 10 assists this season, which is the better personal season for him.
Need I even mention Sergio Aguero who has scored over 20 goals in the league for 5 seasons running now? Or Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez who have both had cup-winning campaigns with their national side in the summer?
Wherever you look with this City side, there is quality that would walk into most Premier League teams. Pep is experimenting with a side in pre-season that plays De Bruyne in a deep-lying playmaker role alongside new arrival Rodri, and the prospect of what that means for City's attack next season is staggering.
The one hitch they may have is the prospect of losing Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich in this window. It'll be a blow, and when it comes, it will hit them hard. But if they can recover from losing Kevin De Bruyne as they did for the most part last season, they'll find a way to score without Sane.
#1 Liverpool
The strikeforce that turns defenders' legs to noodles is here. Klopp's iteration of the 4-3-3 unleashes the raw and refined force of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah on anyone who dares take to the field against the Reds.
They're honestly the strikeforce equivalent of Arjen Robben - you know exactly what to expect and what they're trying to do, yet even before you can move to stop them, they've already gone and scored.
Mane and Salah were joint top-scorers of the league last season along with Arsenal's Aubameyang. Firmino, the glue that binds that attack together, had 12 goals himself. This attack, however, doesn't function on its own.
Liverpool's leaders in the assist charts last season were their fullbacks - Trent Alexander-Arnold with 12 and Andrew Robertson with 11.
There are other contributing factors as well. Liverpool ended last season with both Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson hitting good attacking form.
They're set to welcome Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into the fold once again after missing nearly the whole of last season through injury. Lallana, once he's fit, should also make a good impact on this side. They also have Shaqiri to turn to when they need an extra impetus in attack.
Liverpool's point of worry will be their lack of depth. They're technically competing for 7 trophies this season - Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the Community Shield.
Granted, that the last two are just single games, in the unlikely outcome that Liverpool were to go out in the group stages of the Champions League and lose in the first round in every other competition, they would still play 47 games. In all likelihood, that number realistically rises to a number between 62-68 games (perhaps higher) that the Merseyside team will participate in this season.
The two games in the Club World Cup will come at the start of December as well (in Qatar), just before the busiest period of the Premier League when the games will come thick and fast.
Klopp has spoken about integrating the likes of Rhian Brewster and other youngsters in the team, he can also seem to rely on Divock Origi to play some games upfront. But that front three will be stretched thin, considering they will barely have had a 10-day vacation having been involved with their national teams in the Copa America and Africa Cup of Nations.
