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Tottenham’s hot start, led by talisman Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son, has fans dreaming of a title challenge this year. Much has been made of Kane’s evolution into a playmaking role, and his assist numbers certainly bear that out - he’s already set up 8 goals this season, equalling his combined tally of the past three seasons. In total, the England captain and his Korean teammate have been directly involved in a barely-believable 24 goals already in this campaign in just 7 games.
We’ve taken a look at the most productive duos the Premier League has seen to ask whether the Tottenham pair can make history this season and break a record that has stood for over quarter of a century.
5: Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino - 64 goals and assists in 2017/18
Salah: 32 Goals & 10 Assists
Firmino: 15 Goals & 7 Assists
Having struggled during his stay at Chelsea, Mo Salah took the Premier League by storm in his first season with Liverpool on the way to breaking the goalscoring record for a 38-game season. Though a distant memory now given his recent difficulties in front of goal, Firmino proved an able sidekick to the Egyptian back in 2017/18, chipping in with 15 league goals of his own. The pair’s individual numbers may have dropped off since Salah’s breakout year but, along with Sadio Mane, they have powered the Reds to the biggest domestic and European titles available.
4: Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge - 71 goals and assists in 2013/14
Suarez: 31 Goals & 12 Assists
Sturridge: 22 Goals & 6 Assists
Suarez and Sturridge were at the heart of Brendan Rodgers’ scintillating attacking side. Despite missing 14 games between them - owing to injury in Sturridge’s case and Suarez’s suspension - the pair managed to rack up 71 goal involvements. It’s not difficult to imagine them smashing this record if not for these absences. Unfortunately for Liverpool, Suarez departed for Barcelona while Sturridge’s injury struggles continued, leaving 2013/14 as the high point of the Rodgers era.
3. Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley - 73 goals and assists in 1993/94
Cole: 34 Goals & 6 Assists
Beardsley: 21 Goals & 12 Assists
Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle teams of the mid-90s were known for their free-scoring attacking football and the 1993/94 vintage was no exception. Returning local hero Peter Beardsley teamed up with Andy Cole to take Newcastle to a third-placed finish in their first season back in the top flight. The Newcastle strikers set the still-standing record for most goals scored by a duo in a Premier League season with 55 - including Cole’s Premier League-record 34.
2: Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard - 75 goals and assists in 2009/10
Drogba: 29 Goals & 10 Assists
Lampard: 22 Goals & 14 Assists
While it’s no surprise to see the Chelsea pair on this list, it is perhaps surprising that it came at the turn of the decade rather than at the peak of Jose Mourinho’s reign. Coming in their early thirties, 2009/10 was the most prolific league campaign for both Chelsea legends. Drogba and Lampard helped Chelsea to become the first team in Premier League history to reach the 100 goal mark in a single season - an achievement now matched by three other sides.
1: Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton - 76 goals and assists in 1994/95
Shearer: 34 Goals & 10 Assists
Sutton: 15 Goals & 16 Assists
The original SAS led big-spending Blackburn to their first league title in over 80 years under Liverpool icon Kenny Dalglish. While today's viewers may know this pair as TV pundits of varying quality, the Blackburn strikers’ class was never in doubt on the pitch. Shearer tied Cole’s tally of 34 goals in one season - though both Englishmen had the benefit of a 42-game campaign to set the record. Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane will have their work cut out to top this 25-year-old record with four fewer games to play.
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