Who are the best Premier League strikers in 2023/24? | OneFootball

Who are the best Premier League strikers right now?

We’re into the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, which feels like a nice point to look back and evaluate the season so far. One particular area of focus for analysts and fans alike is strikers. Who is scoring the goals, deciding matches and earning valuable points for their team?

We’ve used the Twenty3 Sport Discovery Tool to find the best players in each position. For the top 10 strikers, the Discovery Tool rates a player’s per 90 output for a number of key stats to produce a percentage score. We have also weighted each stat from 1-5 to highlight the most important aspects of a striker’s play style. This is the Squawka Score.

Each player’s stats are compared to the average output of strikers across the past three seasons of big-five European league football based on an automatically calculated minutes threshold. The more they rank in the 95th percentile and above for each metric, the higher the Squawka Score.

With the 2023/24 season well underway, here are the best strikers in the Premier League ranked by their Squawka Score from the campaign so far, with only players who have 945+ minutes under their belt considered (half of the amount available).

10. Dominic Solanke

Are we finally seeing Dominic Solanke emerge as a genuine quality top-flight striker? The former Liverpool man has scored 12 Premier League goals so far this season, already doubling his final tally for last year. Only two players have scored more than Solanke this season, and he’s just two goals behind top in the race for the Golden Boot. What’s more, Solanke’s 67 shots so far this season leaves him at least 34 clear of any other Bournemouth player, while he’s second when it comes to take-ons attempted and third for take-ons completed.

9. Matheus Cunha

Ten players have now scored at least five goals and provided at least five assists in the Premier League this season, and Matheus Cunha is one of them. Forming part of Wolves’ attack, the Brazilian has scored six times in the Premier League, including one against Arsenal. His role has changed a few times this season, from the main striker to the supporting man, but Cunha’s midfield experience has made him a key all-round player, with five assists — including two against Man City and Tottenham. He is also second in the Premier League for take-ons attempted and completed.

Gabriel Jesus’ ability to lead the line for Arsenal is being brought into question again, and the club are linked with looking for a new striker. But is he all that bad? The Brazilian gets into the right spaces and has had 97 touches inside the opposition box this season, at an average of 8.55 per 90 minutes, 1.23 possessions won in the final third per 90 and 3.09 shots. In terms of goals, Jesus has scored three and assisted twice, having missed five games through injury and had a slow start to the season in terms of minutes when returning.

7. Ollie Watkins

With Harry Kane now at Bayern Munich, Ollie Watkins has a very strong case to be named as the best English striker in the Premier League right now, and the stats prove it. The Aston Villa man has scored nine goals so far this season, and while they have slowed down of late, Watkins has been racking up the assists. Only two players have been directly involved in more goals than Watkins in the Premier League this season, with the Englishman adding eight assists to his nine goals — no player has provided more assists.  No teammate can match him when it comes to shots, touches in the opposition box or aerial duels contested. Showing just how well-rounded he is, Watkins also leads the way for Villa when it comes to chances created.

Nicolas Jackson has faced plenty of criticism since moving to Chelsea but perhaps some of it is rather harsh. Only five strikers are outperforming the Senegal international right now according to our metrics — and we’ll get to those shortly, we’re offering no points for guessing who they are — and it looks like he’s only going to improve from here. Before heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations, Jackson scored seven goals in the Premier League, with four of those coming against Tottenham and Manchester City. He figures in the top five Chelsea players in numerous key areas, such as touches in the opposition box, take-ons completed and aerial duels won.

Richarlison has taken the Tottenham striker role over from Son Heung-min after fighting his way into the team, and it’s now going to be a hard task to dislodge him. The Brazilian had a rough start to life as a Tottenham player but has finally come into his own under Ange Postecoglou, with seven goals and three assists so far this season. Richarlison has scored three headers in the Premier League, the second-most in the division, and sits third among his Tottenham teammates for aerial duels won. He’s in fantastic form too, scoring six goals in his past six league games, including a strike against Manchester United last time out.

4. Joao Pedro

There was a lot of excitement when Joao Pedro joined Brighton from Watford in the summer, and it’s easy to see why. The Brazilian has scored seven goals in the Premier League this season, with four coming from the penalty spot, on top of two assists. He’s had to fight for his place as Brighton’s starting striker, but has been crucial at times from the off, including when he scored twice in the 4-2 victory over Tottenham. No Brighton player has had more touches in the opposition box than Joao Pedro, who has also had more shots than any of his teammates.

3. Alexander Isak

Newcastle have two very capable strikers this season and it’s Alexander Isak who has not only come out on top between the two, but also sits very highly in the ranks for the entire division. The 24-year-old has scored 10 goals in the Premier League this season, with only five players netting more, but his per 90 minute rate is an impressive 0.79 goals — the fifth-best in the division. Only two players have scored more Big Chances than Isak, but he does lead the way for right foot xG at 7.54.

It probably will, but it absolutely shouldn’t surprise you to see Darwin Nunez here. Even despite the odd inexplicable moment of frustration in front of goal, the Uruguay international has still helped himself to seven Premier League goals this season. Perhaps more importantly, Nunez has also provided six assists — second only to Mohamed Salah at Liverpool — while he’s looked threatening pretty much every time the ball has come near the opposition box.

As you can see from the graphic above, Nunez’s conversion rate has been pretty poor this season and it’s taken him 62 shots to score those seven goals. But if he can just tighten up his finishing, Jurgen Klopp will have one of the most fearsome No.9s on the planet at his disposal. And when that happens, Liverpool will once again boast a frankly frightening front three.

It wasn’t too long ago that Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane ruled Europe, but of course two of those have left Liverpool. We have to wait until next season at the earliest to see them trouble the Champions League, but in the meantime it’s worth noting just how dominant they are from a Premier League perspective.

Three Liverpool players rank in the top five across all forward positions by Squawka’s ‘striker rating’ algorithm (minimum 450 minutes played):

1. Erling Haaland

You never doubted Erling Haaland would be here, did you?

The Norwegian sensation keeps things simple, finding himself involved in the run of play far less than other modern strikers. However, that’s only because he’s so busy keeping himself ready to pounce. Last season’s Golden Boot winner and record-setter, Haaland already has a joint-league-high 14 goals to his name so far this season — along with four assists. He also ranks highly at City for aerial duels and touches in the opposition box, and was leading the way in those metrics before his injury.

He’s had a bit of a break to allow the rest of the league to catch up, but when he returns from injury you can bet he’ll hit the ground running.

Squawka Score metrics and weighting

Here are the metrics used and weighting given to each metric to come up with the overall Squawka Score:

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