Premier League: Lineker, Shearer and Richards rank the best front threes of all-time | OneFootball

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All good things come in threes, right? That notion is true for all walks of life, including when looking at Premier League front threes that have terrorised defenders over the years.

Attacking threesomes have become the norm in recent years following the switch from the bog-standard 4-4-2 to the 4-3-3. Long gone are the days of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke working harmoniously together for Manchester United, now it’s all about adding another man to the band.

Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer have bashed their heads together on the latest instalment of Match of the Day Top 10 to whittle through the best front threes to ever grace the English topflight. Strap in.

Richards goes for United in top spot

The former England defender shares Lineker’s admiration for Leicester City’s Premier League-winning side as Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki leapfrog Heung-min Son, Harry Kane and Dele Alli to ninth spot on his list. Quite surprisingly, Manchester City’s current front three – consisting of Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva – is in eighth spot.

Just edging in front of his former side’s trio is the triple S – Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suárez - of Liverpool, with Richards attributing their low ranking on the back of their lack of trophies. He then attempts to claw back some support from the Etihad faithful by placing Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sané in fourth spot, just behind the trio that led Arsenal to their famous ‘Invincibles’ campaign.

Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will have to deal with second place as Richards swallowed his pride by putting his Manchester City affinity aside. He crowned Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez as the best front three in Premier League history. During their time as a trio, they played 42 games together, winning 32 of them. In that sequence, a total of 93 goals were scored.

Shearer went down a different route

Shearer kicked things off by angering his co-host Lineker, who is a huge fan of Leicester, by placing Mahrez, Vardy and Okazaki at the summit of the list. Two of Chelsea’s front threes take the eighth and seventh spots, respectively, while Sterling, Aguero and Sane just miss out on the top half of the ranking. The latter bunch scored an eye-catching 128 goals while in unison across 57 games – 39 in which they won.

Despite not often playing together courtesy of Pep Roulette, the 260-goal striker put Grealish, Haaland and Silva in his top five – unlike Richards. Following them in fourth spot were Sterling, Sturridge and Suarez.

Roberto Pires, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, who played 128 times as a triumvirate, are placed in third, exactly where Richards had them. In 128 games, they won 78 and became one of the most feared front lines at that time.

Topping his list is Salah, Firmino and Mane and not many qualms can be had really, meaning that Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez will have to settle with the silver medal in Shearer’s eyes. 178 goals were scored between the fearsome front three under Jürgen Klopp’s tenure in Merseyside and will looked back on fondly seeing as two of Salah’s supporting act have moved on to pastures new.

To wrap up, the former Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur hitman had the final say, putting together his own list after hearing the views of Richards and Shearer, which proved to be the definitive MOTD rankings. Mahrez, Vardy and Okazaki occupied tenth spot for Lineker, though, as he put his club bias to one side. The enigmatic trio of Son, Kane and Dele followed in ninth.

Chelsea’s trio of Arjen Robben, Damien Duff and Didier Drogba were favoured over Eden Hazard, Diego Costa and Willian – and that might well be down to them winning 25 of their 27 games played together. Manchester City’s current front three missed out on the top five, while Sterling, Aguero, Sane do as they bask in fourth spot, just in front of Liverpool’s famous triple S.

Lineker did agree with his two co-hosts, however, that Pires, Henry and Bergkamp were thoroughly deserving of third spot. It was then between Salah Firmino, Mane – Shearer’s choice – and Ronaldo, Tevez and Rooney – Richard’s choice – and he decided to delight those in Greater Manchester by choosing the latter. And who are we to argue?

Gary Neville, formerly of Manchester United, certainly agrees with the overall decision and once spoke on Sky Sports’ Football Show to highlight his admiration for the Red Devils' hair-raising front three.