Squawka analyses all the key player metrics from the 2025-26 Premier League season, from goals, shots, passing and duels, to possession, discipline and defending.
Using Squawka’s data tables, we break down the players who dominated statistically across every area of the pitch, highlighting the standout performers and surprise names from another dramatic Premier League campaign.
Note: Use the toggle to view the highest and lowest-ranked players for each statistic.
Goal statistics
Top goalscorers: Erling Haaland scooped his third Golden Boot award in four seasons, becoming only the fifth player to win the gong on 3+ occasions. Haaland’s tally of 27 put him five clear of his closest contender Igor Tudor (22), while Antoine Semenyo bagged third spot with 17 goals.
Winning goals: Haaland also led the way for match-winning strikes with 10, ahead of Thiago on seven. Fulham’s Harry Wilson chipped in with six decisive goals of his own.
Penalty goals: A league-high eight of Thiago’s 22 goals were from the spot, three more than Cole Palmer, while four other players each scored four penalties: Raul Jimenez, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and Bruno Fernandes.
Non-penalty goals: Remove penalties and Haaland still comfortably tops the charts with 24 goals from open play. Ollie Watkins scored all 16 of his goals without relying on penalties, while Joao Pedro recorded 15 non-penalty strikes.
Headed goals: Casemiro dominated aerially, with eight of his nine league goals coming via headers, three more than both Jean-Philippe Mateta and Virgil van Dijk, who each scored five headed goals.
Goals from inside the box: Haaland’s dominance in the penalty area was underlined by the fact 26 of his 27 goals came from inside the box. Every one of Igor Tudor’s 22 strikes also arrived from inside the area, while Watkins and Joao Pedro each scored 15 close-range goals.
Goals from outside the box: Antoine Semenyo, Dominik Szoboszlai, John McGinn, and Anton Stach shared top spot for long-range strikes with four apiece. Notably, all four of Szoboszlai’s goals from distance came via free-kicks, while three of Stach’s did too.
Goal contributions: Haaland led the Premier League for total goal involvements with an outstanding 35, finishing five clear of Bruno Fernandes in second. Thiago ranked third on 23 contributions, although only one of those came via an assist.
Own goals: Six unfortunate souls scored multiple own goals (two each) in Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jefferson Lerma, Yerson Mosquera, Murillo, James Hill, and Maxime Esteve.
Shooting statistics
Shots on target: The league’s two leading scorers also topped the charts for shots on target, with Haaland registering 59 efforts on target and Thiago recording 43. Watkins completed the top three with 38.
Shots off target: Haaland also ranked first for shots off target with 43, ahead of Bournemouth striker Evanilson on 35 and Raul Jimenez on 34.
Shots (excluding blocks): Haaland was the only player to surpass 100 unblocked shots, ending the season on 102. Thiago followed with 67, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin accumulated 66.
Shots blocked: Cody Gakpo saw more efforts blocked than any other player, with 33 attempts stopped before reaching goal. Matheus Cunha was just behind on 32, while Igor Jesus finished on 31.
Shots from set-pieces: Malick Thiaw led the division for shots generated from set-pieces with 10, followed by Dan Ballard on nine. Casemiro and Nordi Mukiele both recorded eight efforts from dead-ball situations.
Hit woodwork: Given the sheer volume of chances he generated, it’s little surprise Haaland struck the woodwork more than anyone else, rattling the frame of the goal six times. Enzo Fernandez, Bruno Fernandes and Leandro Trossard each hit the woodwork on five occasions.
Passing statistics
Assists: Bruno Fernandes rewrote the record books in 2025-26, registering a new Premier League single-season record of 21 assists, 11 of which came on the road which is a joint-record. Rayan Cherki finished a distant second on 12, while Jarrod Bowen completed the podium places with 11.
Chances created: Fernandes also comfortably led the league for chances created, producing a remarkable 136 opportunities for teammates, which was 58 more than second-placed Dominik Szoboszlai (78). Enzo Fernandez ranked third with 68 chances created.
Passes completed: As expected, centre-backs dominated this category. Virgil van Dijk completed more passes than any other player with 2,482, ahead of Brighton pair Lewis Dunk (2,300) and Jan Paul van Hecke (2,197).
Long passes completed: Goalkeepers topped the rankings here, with Jordan Pickford completing 363 long passes – more than 100 clear of Martin Dubravka (252) and Caoimhin Kelleher (248).
Crosses completed: Szoboszlai again featured prominently, completing a league-high 68 crosses for Liverpool. Tottenham full-back Pedro Porro followed with 61, while Hugo Bueno contributed 57.
Open-play crosses completed: Full-backs Hugo Bueno (45) and Pedro Porro (38) both thrived in this category, as did Szoboszlai (37).
Corners taken: Everton’s James Garner delivered more corners than anyone else in the division with 109. Szoboszlai once again featured near the top on 104, while Anton Stach was the only other player to break the 100-mark with 102.
Through-balls: The Premier League’s two leading assist providers also led the way for through-balls. Bruno Fernandes completed 38, ahead of Cherki on 29, while Enzo Fernandez ranked third with 25.
Final third passes completed: Fernandes sparkles again with 662, just pipping Szoboszlai (660) to top spot, with Bernardo Silva third on 630.
Forward passes: Marcos Senesi (1,184) and Virgil van Dijk (1,008) were the only two players to accumulate over 1,000 passes. Everton keeper Jordan Pickford was third on 968.
Duels statistics
Tackles made: Everton midfielder James Garner topped the Premier League for tackles with 120, finishing 10 clear of Joao Palhinha in second. Wolves’ Joao Gomes ranked third with 107.
Last man tackles made: Malick Thiaw led the Premier League with six last-man tackles, narrowly ahead of Marcos Senesi and Cristian Romero, who both recorded five.
Take-ons completed: Jeremy Doku and his dancing feet completed 82 take-ons, Iliman Ndiaye followed suit on 73, with Yankuba Minteh on 65.
Fouls won: Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson won more fouls than anyone else in the league with 80, ahead of Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes on 75. West Ham winger Crysencio Summerville ranked third with 67.
Fouls committed: Igor Thiago committed the most fouls (73), four ahead of Joao Gomes (69), with Anderson also appearing in this category on 57.
Penalties won: Thiago had his Brentford teammate to thank when it came to penalties, with Dango Ouattara winning a league-high five last season. Joao Pedro won Chelsea three penalties, with a further nine players winning two penalties.
Duels won: Anderson led the way for total duels won with 295, ahead of Everton’s James Tarkowski (233), and Wolves’ Joao Gomes (223).
Aerial duels won: Van Dijk dominated in the air, winning 174 aerial duels across the campaign. Tarkowski followed on 147, while Brentford’s Sepp van den Berg completed the top three with 140.
Ground duels won: Anderson, yet again, proved one of the toughest players to beat on the ground, winning 230 ground duels – a hefty 34 ahead of Joao Gomez. Mateus Fernandes was next on 180.
Possession statistics
Ball recoveries: Goalkeepers dominated this category, with Sunderland’s Robin Roefs leading the way on 334 recoveries. Brighton stopper Bart Verbruggen followed closely on 331, while Fulham’s Bernd Leno ranked third on 316.
Possession lost: Despite leading the league for touches, Anderson also surrendered possession more often than any other player, losing the ball 656 times. Pedro Porro follows on 646, while Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers gave possession away on 619 occasions.
Touches: No player recorded more touches in the Premier League last season than Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson, who amassed 3,284. Virgil van Dijk was close behind on 3,252, while Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke was the only other player to surpass the 3,000 mark with 3,040.
Offsides: Bournemouth striker Evanilson and Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo were caught offside more than any other players, flagged 30 times each. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was next on 26.
Touches in opposition box: Manchester City pair Haaland and Doku were the most active players inside the opposition penalty area, recording 213 and 191 touches respectively. Gakpo ranked third with 187.
Times tackled: Morgan Rogers was dispossessed by tackles more often than any other Premier League player, with opponents successfully tackling him 156 times. Jarrod Bowen also featured heavily in this metric on 142, while Leeds midfielder Brenden Aaronson ranked among the highest too.
Defence & Goalkeeper statistics
Clearances: Virgil van Dijk led the Premier League for clearances with 274 across the season, narrowly ahead of Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi (254) and Crystal Palace’s Maxence Lacroix (252).
Interceptions: Everton midfielder James Garner topped the interceptions charts with 60, showcasing his defensive awareness throughout the campaign. Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo followed closely on 58, while Senesi ranked third with 55.
Clean sheets: Arsenal’s David Raya kept a whopping 19 clean sheets en route to winning the Golden Glove for the third season in a row. Man City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma made 15 clean sheets in his maiden season for the club, with Djordje Petrovic (Bournemouth), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace) and Jordan Pickford (Everton) joint third with 11 shutouts each.
Goals conceded: Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka conceded more goals than any other keeper in the division with 71. Despite their strong clean-sheet numbers, Bournemouth’s Petrovic and Palace’s Henderson still shipped 54 and 51 goals respectively.
Saves made: Although he conceded the most goals, Dubravka also finished top for total saves with 127. Brentford’s Caoimhin Kelleher and Sunderland stopper Robin Roefs both impressed with 109 saves apiece.
Penalties saved: Kelleher was the standout penalty specialist in the Premier League as the only goalkeeper to save more than one spot-kick with three in total.
Discipline
Yellow cards: Wolves’ Andre and Everton’s James Garner picked up more yellow cards than any other players in the Premier League last season, both receiving 12 cautions. Mosquera (Everton) and Moises Caicedo (Wolves) frequented the referee’s little black book 11 times each.
Red cards: Only two players were sent off more than once during the 2025-26 campaign: Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana, who both finished the season with two red cards apiece.
