Scoring goals is the most difficult task in football and doing it consistently is an even bigger challenge. Here are five players who at some point in their careers could not stop scoring.
5 – Joe Willock – April-May 2021 – 7 Games
Willock had already become the youngest goalscorer to ever strike in six consecutive games before adding another to his tally on the final day of last season in Newcastle’s 2-0 win away at Fulham.
No midfielder has ever scored as many goals in consecutive games and the streak was more remarkable due to the fact Newcastle were a mid-table side, at best, rather than a free-scoring one near the top.
That run earned him a permanent £25million move from Arsenal during the summer, but he has yet to score in six top flight appearances this season.
4 – Alan Shearer – September-November 1996 – 7 Games
Sergio Aguero, Romelu Lukaku, Emmanuel Adebayor, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright, and Mark Stein have also hit the seven-game mark but no Premier League scoring list would be complete without its record holder.
Shearer had just signed for Newcastle for a then-world record £15million with Kevin Keegan hoping he’d make the pivotal difference in securing a title.
It proved not to be the case but the Geordie star was still a trusty marksman with the Magpies’ famous 5-0 demolition of Manchester United contained within this run.
3 – Daniel Sturridge – November 2013-February 2014 – 8 Games
While Luis Suarez was the chief headline-maker in Liverpool’s near miss of 2013-14, Daniel Sturridge was proving to be more than just a right-hand man.
It’s easy to forget how lethal the England forward was given the sorry descent of his career due to persistent injury issues.
The run of form started with a late equaliser in a 3-3 draw away at Everton and carried on until his brace at home to Swansea with another two-goal haul in the reverse fixture against the Toffees – ten goals in eight games to be precise.
He recently signed for Australian A-League side Perth Glory and the 32-year-old will be hoping to have a late-career renaissance.
2- Ruud van Nistelrooy – March-August 2003 – 10 Games
The Dutchman was one of the most ruthless goalscorers in Premier League history and it is of little surprise to see him so high up this list.
Back in the peak of Manchester United and Arsenal’s rivalry, the Red Devils were seeking to reclaim the Premier League title and needed their big players to step up.
Van Nistelrooy scored in the 2-2 draw at Highbury before his goals saw United win four in a row at the end of the season to win the Premier League for the eighth time.
Two more goals from the forward at the start of the 2003/04 season took his tally up to ten in a row – a record which wouldn’t be broken for 12 years…
1 – Jamie Vardy – August-November 2015 – 11 Games
Every fairytale needs a main protagonist and Jamie Vardy portrayed the role perfectly in Leicester’s outrageous ascent from relegation strugglers to title winners.
There were signs at the end of the previous season that he was finding his feet in the top flight and was justly rewarded with a maiden England call in the summer of 2015.
However, no one could have predicted how clinical he would become in front of goal as the run started when he netted a penalty away at Bournemouth.
When everyone thought the Foxes would run out of steam, Vardy, sometimes single-handedly, defied the naysayers and equalled Van Nistelrooy’s record in a 3-0 win at Newcastle.
Ironically, United were the opponents Vardy broke the record against and after he used his trademark blistering pace to get on the end of a through ball, there was a sense of inevitability as he tucked home with utmost confidence.
All that from a player who was playing non-league football up until the age of 25. Without doubt one strand of the Premier League’s most remarkable tale.