By Opta Analyst | Created at 2024-10-29 21:22:15 | Updated at 2024-11-06 00:16:45
1 week ago
Bukayo Saka’s opener against Liverpool was his 50th goal in the Premier League. It’s a landmark he’s reached at a younger age than any other Arsenal player. But where does he stack up in Premier League history, and how does he compare to Arsenal’s all-time greats?
Arsenal’s star boy is at it again. Bukayo Saka struck the opening goal against Liverpool after only nine minutes of a huge game at the top of the table to score his 50th Premier League goal for Arsenal.
Aged 23 years and 52 days on the day of Liverpool‘s visit to the Emirates Stadium, Saka is the youngest player in Arsenal’s Premier League history to hit a half century of goals for the club, and just the 11th Gunners player to hit that landmark.
To put that achievement into context, he has made it to 50 Premier League goals aged more than a year younger than Thierry Henry, who had previously held the Arsenal record.
Youngest Players to Score 50 Premier League Goals for Arsenal:
Bukayo Saka – 23y 52d
Thierry Henry – 24y 128d
Theo Walcott – 26y 69d
Robin van Persie – 27y 162d
Alexis Sánchez – 28y 145d
Olivier Giroud – 29y 74d
Alexandre Lacazette – 29y 318d
Dennis Bergkamp – 29y 331d
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 31y 13d
Robert Pirès – 31y 36d
Ian Wright – 31y 72d
Saka scored his 50th goal in his 178th appearance for the north London club. That actually makes him the 10th-slowest to hit the milestone in terms of games played. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (79) and Henry (83) lead the way there, but it’s worth remembering that Saka spent a lot of his early career playing as a wing-back. It’s only really been in the last three seasons that his scoring has ramped up.
If we expand that list to all-time, then Saka is the fifth-youngest player in Arsenal’s club history to hit 50 league goals.
Youngest Players to Score 50 League Goals for Arsenal:
Cliff Bastin, Division 1 – 20y 47d
Ray Kennedy, Division 1 – 22y 259d
John Radford, Division 1 – 22y 287d
Ted Drake, Division 1 – 23y 15d
Bukayo Saka, Premier League – 23y 52d
Frank Stapleton, Division 1 – 23y 67d
Joe Baker, Division 1 – 23y, 146d
Paul Merson, Division 1 – 24y 22d
Tim Coleman, Division 1 – 24y 72d
Thierry Henry, Premier League – 24y 128d
In terms of the Premier League record overall, Robbie Fowler (20y, 252d) is the youngest player to hit 50 Premier League goals, but Saka’s recent strike means he sits seventh on that list, also behind Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Romelu Lukaku, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane.
Even with Saka spending time in defence at the start of his Premier League career, the numbers he’s put up since his debut in January 2019 are impressive. Since his first game league game for the club, he’s registered more goal involvements (92) than anyone else at Arsenal, and he is some way ahead of the next player on the list – Martin Ødegaard (54).
Hitting 50 Premier League goals for Arsenal at such a young age is testament to Saka’s immense talent, rapid development and ability to stay fit.
Saka leads all Premier League players for assists (7) this season, while he’s been involved in more goals and created more chances both overall and from open play than any other Arsenal player. If Mikel Arteta’s side are to wrestle the title away from Manchester City, Saka maintaining this level of output is surely a must.
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