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Throughout the three decades of the Premier League, many world-class strikers have made their mark in the league.
From homegrown players like Michael Owen and Harry Kane to foreign superstars such as Eric Cantona and Sergio Aguero, goals have always come in abundance. These strikers have kept scoring goals at consistent levels throughout their careers.
Class strikers in the Premier League come at a premium
All 20 Premier League clubs can't line up with a top-notch finisher. This is where strikers like Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe come in. Although the pair have scored 100+ goals in the Premier League, their goal-to-game ratio leaves a lot to be desired.
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The goal-to-game ratio is a vital metric that separates the best strikers in Europe from the rest of the pack. It essentially means how many goals a player scores per game. A ratio above 0.5 is usually considered very good for a forward. This article lists five players with the best goal-to-game ratio in Premier League history.
Note: Only players with 75 or more goals are taken into consideration.
#5 Ruud van Nistelrooy (0.63)
Ruud van Nistelrooy was the definition of a clinical goalscorer. One of the best strikers of the early 2000s, the Dutchman knew how to score a goal out of nothing. He scored 95 goals in 150 appearances in the Premier League, which comes down to 0.633 goals per game. He was the top scorer of the 2002-03 season, scoring 25 goals in a title-winning campaign with Manchester United.
"Ruud Devil", as he was referred to by the Old Trafford faithful, scored 20+ goals in four of his five seasons at Manchester United. He was injured for most of the 2004-05 season. Hence, he couldn't trouble the top scorers' table.
The former Manchester United number 10 won the Champions League Golden Boot on three occasions as well.
Among the players on this list, van Nistelrooy played the fewest matches. This is testament to how quickly he adapted to Alex Ferguson's style of play. He left Manchester United in 2006 and went on to score 25 goals in his debut La Liga campaign with Real Madrid.
#4 Mohamed Salah (0.64)
Mohamed Salah has formed a habit of appearing on almost all Premier League lists pertaining to goals. The current Premier League top scorer has scored 110 goals in 173 matches in the top flight of English football. He is the only player in this countdown to have scored goals for multiple clubs in the Premier League. He scored 108 for Liverpool and two for Chelsea.
The Egyptian king has a goal-to-game ratio just shy of 0.64 in the Premier League. The two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner has started the season with flying colours. He has already scored 13 goals and provided nine assists this term. If he maintains this scoring rate, he will soon leapfrog a couple of players ahead of him in the goal-to-game ratio category.
Salah has scored 108 goals in 159 matches for Liverpool in the Premier League, with a goal-to-game ratio higher than any player on the list. But when we look at his Premier League career in its entirety, he stays in fourth place with a more than respectable 0.639 goals per game.
#3 Harry Kane (0.65)
Harry Kane has been chasing Alan Shearer's Premier League record of 260 goals for quite some time now. However, he trumps the Newcastle legend by having a better goal-to-game ratio. The reigning Premier League golden boot winner has scored 167 goals in 259 matches in the league. That equals around 0.649 goals in every appearance.
The England captain has already written his name in Premier League history. The striker was the most prolific goal scorer (23) and the most effective playmaker (14) of the previous season. The 28-year-old has won the Golden Boot thrice already. One wouldn't bet against him winning it again.
Harry Kane is the only Englishman here. This means that although local players dominate the all-time top scorers' charts, overseas players tend to have a better goal-to-game ratio.
However, this season he has had a tough time, scoring just one goal in the league so far. Spurs are fifth in the Premier League table right now. They will depend on their talisman to add to his solitary goal if they are to finish in the top four.
#2 Sergio Aguero (0.67)
Sergio Aguero spent much of the last decade competing with Harry Kane for the title of Premier League's best striker. The former Manchester City man was an enigma in the Premier League.
He scored 184 times in 275 appearances for the blue club for Manchester. He also won five Premier League titles with the Cityzens. That is one more than the remaining players on the list put together.
It is surprising to note that Aguero just won the golden boot award once. But the stats also proved that Aguero was consistently very good, instead of having one or two seasons with inhumane numbers. During his decade-long stint at the Etihad Stadium, Aguero conjured a goal-to-game ratio of 0.669.
The Argentine left Manchester City earlier this year and has reportedly retired from football due to medical reasons. The 2014-15 Premier League Golden Boot winner scored in excess of 20 goals in six different seasons. He netted more than 15 goals in eight campaigns.
#1 Thierry Henry (0.68)
Almost 15 years since he first left Arsenal, Thierry Henry is still regarded as arguably the best player in Premier League history. Henry scored 175 goals in 258 appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League. His goal-to-game ratio of 0.678 is enough to bag the top spot on the list.
The Frenchman won a couple of Premier League titles with the North London club, including their unbeaten 2003-04 season.
Henry was known for his trademark goal from the left side of the attack, cutting in and finessing the ball into the bottom-right corner. He won the Premier League Golden Boot four times and narrowly lost to Ruud van Nistelrooy once. He scored goals for fun and created a lethal pair with Dennis Bergkamp.
Henry's most prolific campaign was in 2004-05, wherein he scored 30 goals in 37 outings. The former Arsenal number 14 left for Barcelona in 2007 and won the treble under Pep Guardiola. However, during his tenure at Arsenal, he created a legacy for himself.
