The English Premier League is renowned and watched worldwide by hundreds of millions of fans each weekend. The league is viewed by so many due to its high-intensity nature and the entertainment it brings through the number of goals scored.
Many teams have been prolific since the start of the Premier League in 1992. However, who have been the most prolific teams in a single Premier League campaign?
1 – Manchester City (106 goals in season 2017/18)
It may not be a surprise to many that Manchester City is the team that has scored the most goals in a single Premier League campaign, with a massive 106 goals in season 2017/18. The goals saw Pep Guardiola win his first title as the Citizen’s head coach, with a goal difference of +79, which is a league record.
Argentinian forward Sergio Aguero was City’s top league goalscorer, scoring 21 goals during the campaign. However, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane also all got into double figures for the campaign.
The Citizens broke another Premier League record by becoming the first team ever to reach a century of points, which was only achieved courtesy of a last-gasp Jesus effort in the last game of the season against Southampton.
2 – Chelsea (103 goals scored in season 2009-10)
The Blues were irresistible in front of goal in season 2009/10 under Italian managerial legend Carlo Ancelotti. The team from south west London notched an incredible 103 league goals on their way to winning the top-flight title.
Chelsea were particularly effective in front of goal at Stamford Bridge, where they scored an impressive 68 goals in 19 matches, the highest total of goals scored by any Premier League on home soil. The home goal tally included hammering Wigan Athletic 8-0 at home on the final day of the campaign to seal the title.
Like City, the Blues shared the goals around the team. Club legend Didier Drogba top scored with 29 goals, while midfielder Frank Lampard scored 22 times, Florent Malouda notched 12, and Nicolas Anelka was on target on 11 occasions.
3 – Manchester City (102 goals in season 2019-20)
Unsurprisingly, City feature once again at number three, having found the net 102 times in season 2019/20. However, despite their effectiveness in front of goal, the Citizens only finished second place in the League, with Liverpool taking the title to end their three-decade-long wait to be crowned English champions.
In true City fashion, several players were potent in front of goal during the campaign, as five players all reached double figures. Raheem Sterling was the team’s top goalscorer with 20, while Sergio Aguero scored 16 times, with Gabriel Jesus, Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez scoring 14, 13 and 11 goals, respectively.
De Bruyne wasn’t just scoring goals in the Premier League, as the Belgian playmaker equalled Thierry Henry’s record of 20 top-flight assists during the campaign.
=3 Manchester City (102 goals in season 2013-14)
City reached the 102-goal mark in season 2013/14 when they claimed the English top flight for the second time in the space of three years.
Managed by Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini, City was lethal in attack, with the unlikely figure of midfielder Yaya Toure topping the scoring charts with 20 goals in the English top-flight. The former Barcelona star is just one of two midfielders to break the 20-goal mark in the Premier League, with the other being Chelsea’s Frank Lampard.
However, the Ivorian was not the only prolific player during the campaign, as Sergio Aguero was once again potent in front of goal, scoring 17 times, while Bosnian forward Edin Dzeko also notched 16 times for the Citizens.
5 – Liverpool (101 goals in season 2013/14)
The 2013/14 season will always go down as the campaign where Liverpool surrendered a big lead at the top of the table to finish second place, with a Steven Gerrard slip in a 2-0 home defeat against Chelsea proving to be a pivotal moment in their title challenge.
However, the season should also be remembered for the extraordinary goalscoring exploits of Brendan Rodgers’ team. Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez added some bite to the Red’s attack, scoring a career-best 32 league goals in the campaign, a tally enough to win the former Ajax star the Golden Boot.
However, strike-partner Daniel Sturridge also enjoyed the most prolific season of his career in front of goal, scoring an impressive 21 league goals.
The fact that Liverpool conceded 50 Premier League goals was likely their downfall in the race for the English top flight.
6 – Manchester City (99 goals scored in season 2021/2022)
The Citizens were once again prolific in season 2021/22, scoring 99 goals as they claimed another Premier League title. As with the other entries on this list for City, several players had an eye for goal for the Citizens. Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne top the goalscoring charts, finding the net on 15 occasions, with Raheem Sterling scoring 13 times and Riyad Mahrez scoring 11 goals.
The biggest win of the Premier League season came in December when they hammered Leeds United 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium, a game that saw De Bruyne bag a brace.
7 – Manchester United (97 goals in season 1999-00)
Surprisingly, despite their dominance of the Premier League during Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign as boss, United features only once in the top ten highest-scoring teams, which was in their title-winning campaign of 1999/00.
The Red Devils’ 97 league goals helped them win the Premier League for the sixth time in eight years. The campaign also marked 25 years of United being in the top flight of English football.
Deadly forward duo Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole scored 20 and 19 Premier League goals, respectively, while Norwegian super-sub Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored 12 times, despite starting in just 15 of his 28 top-flight appearances.
8 – Manchester City (95 goals in season 2018-19)
Another City entry shows just how potent the Citizens have been in the attack under the managerial brilliance of Pep Guardiola. Once again, the men from Manchester ended season 2018/19 as English champions, having scored 95 league goals.
Record goalscorer Sergio Aguero was in his most deadly form during the campaign, as the Argentinian scored 21 times in the top flight, with Raheem Sterling scoring 17 goals and Leroy Sane finding the net on ten occasions.
The fact that City had already scored a century of goals in January showed their potency in front of goal. The Citizens also broke the record for goals set in all competitions by scoring 169 times, which was already their record from the title-winning 2013/14 season.
9 – Liverpool (94 goals scored in season 2021/22)
Liverpool has their second entry on our list, and just like in season 2013/14, the Reds’ goalscoring exploits were not enough to see them crowned as Premier League champions in 2021/22. The men from Merseyside were once again the bridesmaids to Manchester City’s bride in the campaign, finishing just a point behind the men from Manchester. However, the Reds did the domestic cup double of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, having defeated Chelsea in the final of both competitions.
Liverpool’s 60th straight season in the English top-flight saw Egyptian star Mohamed Salah score 23 league goals, with Sadio Mane finding the net 16 times and Diogo Jota scoring just one fewer league goals than the Senegalese star.
=9 (Manchester City 94 goals scored in season 2022/23)
The 2022/23 season saw Manchester City win the English top-flight title for the fifth time in six seasons. Guardiola’s team were once again prolific in front of goal. Summer signing Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland smashed the Premier League individual goalscoring record by scoring 36 times in just 35 appearances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkD-yb6scJE
England midfielder Phil Foden also enjoyed the most prolific goalscoring campaign of his career, as he scored 11 times in the English top flight, while Argentinian international Julian Alvarez also scored nine times in the Premier League.
City also went on to win the Champions League for the first time in their history, as they defeated Italian giants Inter 1-0 in the final of the competition courtesy of a long-range Rodri effort. The victory meant that the Citizens became only the second team in history after neighbours Manchester United to do the treble of Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League.