The Premier League’s 10 all-time top scorers and their favourite victims
Every football fan knows the feeling: the sheer dread of facing that one player that always, always seems to score against the club you support.
The great goalscorers of the Premier League have struck fear into the hearts of every opposition fan, but which supporters were most justified in getting that sinking feeling?
We’ve taken a look at the Premier League’s all-time top 10 goalscorers and picked out the opposition club they scored the most goals against.
Note: whereby the total amounts of goals are tied, we’ve used assists or fewest appearances as the tie-breaker.
10. Michael Owen – West Ham
Owen scored 13 goals in 10 appearances against Newcastle, all of which came during his peak Liverpool years, so it rubbed salt into their wounds that he was nowhere near that prolific for them after joining in 2005.
The former England striker also scored 13 against West Ham, including a rare league goal for Manchester United, as well as setting up a couple.
9. Jermain Defoe – Wigan Athletic
Five of Defoe’s 10 Premier League goals against the Latics came in one unforgettable 9-1 victory for Spurs back in 2009.
A Wigan fan later wrote to the striker asking him to help save the ailing club when they entered administration in 2020. Defoe heeded the call and donated £5000 – a grand for every goal.
He’s now announced his retirement at the age of 39 after a long career.
🔵 A Wigan supporter wrote to Jermain Defoe to ask if he could helping save the club.
💰The fan asked for £5000, a £1000 for each goal he scored against Wigan when Spurs beat them 9-1.
🤩 Defoe paid the full £5000 within hours!
🤝 A Legend!#THFC #COYSpic.twitter.com/Z9XDwAPB6l
— Last Word On Spurs (@LastWordOnSpurs) August 28, 2020
8. Robbie Fowler – Bolton Wanderers
It’s not difficult to see why Fowler’s known as ‘God’ to Liverpool fans, given his 10 Premier League goals against Arsenal, nine against Everton and eight against Manchester United.
He also scored 12 against Aston Villa and Bolton, doing so against the latter in just 15 appearances.
7. Thierry Henry – Middlesbrough
Henry hit double figures for Premier League goals against Leeds, Charlton, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough, with the latter three tied on 12 in total. But the Frenchman also set up a further six goals against Boro.
Absolutely unstoppable at his very best – just look at this hat-trick.
#OTD in 2006: Thierry Henry scores his 7th Premier League hat-trick as Arsenal beat Middlesbrough 7-0.pic.twitter.com/xARE9OPBiJ
— GoalScorer Challenge ⚽️ (@GoalscorerC) January 14, 2020
6. Frank Lampard – Aston Villa
The longevity of Lampard’s Premier League career saw him face off against Villa no fewer than 33 occasions, and he’d be fairly reliable at sticking the boot into a side that were invariably vastly inferior to Chelsea.
The only midfielder in the top 10 scored 13 goals and notched a further eight assists – not only is it the side he scored the most against, but he also only set more up against Bolton.
So there might have been a certain added sweetness for Villa fans returning to the Premier League at the expense of Lampard’s Derby in the 2019 play-off final, at least.
5. Sergio Aguero – Newcastle United
Poor Newcastle: 14 games, 15 goals, four assists. One absolutely brutal 20 minutes.
READ: Remembering when Aguero scored five goals in 20 minutes for Man City
4. Harry Kane – Leicester City
The only player still playing in the Premier League in the top 10, we’ll almost certainly see Kane rise at least a couple of places in the coming years.
Leicester will be hoping that someone can take their place as his favourite victim – 18 goals in just 15 appearances is utterly ruthless, and to make matters worse he’s scored 20 against them in all competitions.
He’s also scored 11 or more against West Ham, Arsenal, Everton and Southampton.
3. Andy Cole – West Ham
Cole scored 11 goals against Liverpool, Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham, but we’re using the further six assists he registered against the Hammers as the clincher here.
The former No.9 scored one and set up another three at Upton Park in 1994, back when he was a Newcastle player, and continued to bang in the goals against them following his move to Old Trafford.
2. Wayne Rooney – Newcastle United
Having scored against the Magpies in his breakout campaign with Everton, Rooney seemed to love inflicting misery on Newcastle – scoring 15 goals in 24 appearances, with the last a match-winner at St. James’ Park during his homecoming season with Everton.
Just look how much venom goes into this volley. Was he once served a dodgy pint of Newcy Brown? Maybe he just hates Mark Knopfler and Sting? Who knows.
“Siri, find me the angriest volley since records began.”
“Your search returned Wayne Rooney vs Newcastle 16 years ago today.”pic.twitter.com/E459JvGc0N
— A Funny Old Game (@sid_lambert) April 24, 2021
1. Alan Shearer – Leeds United
A quite ridiculous 20 goals in 19 appearances, beating the 19 goals he scored against Tottenham, 18 against Everton and 17 against Coventry. The striker scored seven goals for Blackburn in his first three Premier League appearances against the Yorkshire club and would go on to haunt them for another 12 years.
Unsurprisingly, that’s a Premier League record for goals by one player against one club – and it might’ve been more had Leeds not been relegated two years before Shearer retired.