The starting strikers from the ‘big 6’ Premier League clubs (ranked)

Highlights

• The Premier League’s ‘big 6’ clubs have some wonderfully talented strikers including Erling Haaland, Darwin Nunez and Rasmus Hojlund.
• Richarlison of Tottenham has been a surprise package in the 2023/24 season, with the Spurs man having impressive stats thus far.
• Gabriel Jesus struggles to keep pace with the other names in terms of goalscoring numbers, but the Brazilian is still an excellent technician.

Scoring goals in the Premier League could well be the hardest job in football. Playing at the highest level and being expected to consistently produce results comes with a whole new level of scrutiny.

Being a centre-forward isn’t only about finding the back of the net, but ultimately, this is what they are judged on for the most part. Players leading the line also have to hold the ball up, link the play and provide assists for their teammates. This isn’t always taken into consideration and is difficult to measure.

However, looking purely at the number of goals scored is often an unfair way of judging these players as there are many factors that should be taken into consideration. The team they play for, the chances they have created for them and the number of minutes they have played are all things that should be considered.

Being the main man for one of the traditional ‘big six’ Premier League clubs – Man City, Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham – is a pressure cooker, making it extremely difficult for players to perform to the best of their ability. With all that being said, GIVEMESPORT have decided to take a look at the starting striker at each of the aforementioned clubs and rank them based on their 2023/24 statistics to date.

6 Gabriel Jesus

Club: Arsenal

It’s always going to be harsh for any of these players to finish last on the list and this by no means suggests that Gabriel Jesus is the worst player of them all. The Brazilian is wonderful to watch with the ball at his feet, as his dribbling ability and link-up play are up there with the best forwards in the division.

The issues come for the former Manchester City man when it comes to consistently putting the ball in the back of the net. Jesus has scored the least goals of the six men in question here and, while it’s important to note he has also played the least games due to injury, his goals-per-game ratio is also the lowest by a considerable margin.

There’s only one player on this list to have taken fewer shots at goal than the 26-year-old, and he has the joint-third most assists to his name (3), showing his unselfish nature. The Gunners’ forward is a different type of striker to those he’s compared with, but ultimately, players in his position are judged on their goalscoring abilities.

5 Nicolas Jackson

Club: Chelsea

Nicolas Jackson’s seven goals are enough to nudge the Senegal international ahead of Jesus in these rankings. The forward was signed from Villarreal in the summer ahead of the 2023/24 campaign and took time to find his feet for the west London club.

Jackson netted three of his goals in one game as he scored a hat-trick against Tottenham in a London derby. This may skew the figures in his favour slightly as Spurs were down to nine men for a large part of that encounter and, in truth, Jackson and his teammates probably should have scored more.

Although he has played more games than his Arsenal counterpart, the 22-year-old has a better goal-per-game ratio. Jackson’s finishing has been wayward at times and this has been a source of frustration for Chelsea supporters, but his ability to bring others into the game has improved as the season has worn on. With three assists to his name, the Senegalese forward has formed a good relationship with those around him and has plenty of time to get better.

4 Rasmus Hojlund

Club: Manchester United

Rasmus Hojlund could soon make his way up this list if he continues his recent form when he recovers from his current injury. The Dane was signed from Atalanta to be the main centre-forward at Old Trafford, but the team’s struggles on the pitch in the first half of the campaign made life difficult for the youngster to adapt to the Premier League.

The 21-year-old has had a lot less service than his counterparts on this list as he has only had 29 shots at goal at the time of writing. From those efforts, Hojlund has found the back of the net seven times, which leaves him close to an average of a goal every four shots.

His goal-per-game ratio is better than both Jesus and Jackson, meaning he is worthy of his fourth-place finish. The players above him on the list are playing for teams that have been brilliant in the 2023/24 season. This could be a big contributing factor to Hojlund’s place on this list. Injuries haven’t helped either, as his form did start to pick up with a run of scoring in six successive league games being halted by a hamstring issue.

3 Darwin Nunez

Club: Liverpool

Liverpool are firmly in the title race and Darwin Nunez has been a big part of their success so far this season. The Uruguayan is a chaotic figure, with no one knowing what to expect from him in any given match. Two men on this list have scored more goals than the 24-year-old, but could still have a smaller impact on their team’s performances bizarrely.

Mohamed Salah is an excellent foil for the striker as the Egyptian has struck up a brilliant partnership with him and has helped Nunez to the most assists of these six forwards. The fact he has missed 21 big chances means he is very close to dropping below Hojlund, but his overall goal contributions help him stay in third place.

Nunez has looked much more settled in Jurgen Klopp’s side and should he refine his finishing ability, there’s every chance he could be challenging at the top of these rankings. The former Benfica man has also got the third-best minutes per goal rate, solidifying his place.

2 Richarlison

Club: Tottenham

Perhaps the surprise package of the six strikers. Richarlison had a tough time in his debut season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after securing a big move from Everton. The Brazilian became a figure of fun for rival supporters after only scoring once in 27 Premier League matches in the 2022/23 campaign.

Ange Postecoglou’s appointment has been a blessing in disguise for ‘Pombo’, who has already reached double-figure goals in the English top-flight. Having played 22 games at the time of writing, this means his goals-per-game ratio is the second-best of the six men in question.

He has also scored more big chances than he’s missed to date, and Richarlison is the only man of all six to be able to boast that record. He has had more shots than Hojlund, Jackson and Jesus due to Tottenham’s attacking style of play. The Spurs forward has a better shot conversion rate than the latter two, while Hojlund’s is better.

1 Erling Haaland

Club: Manchester City

There was almost no doubt that Erling Haaland would come out on top of this list. The Manchester City man is making a habit of being at the top of any ranking he is part of. Being part of the most dominant team in world football does the Norwegian talisman no harm either, as he has the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva consistently providing chance after chance to score.

This is shown in the volume of shots the 23-year-old has taken in the 2023/24 season thus far, as Haaland’s tally of 86 shots at goal in only 21 appearances is considerably more than his rivals. It’s one thing to have all of these chances laid on a plate, but taking them is another skill altogether. The Citizens’ main goalscorer has netted a staggering 17 times in the league at the time of writing, a haul that sits him top of the scoring charts.