This Premier League season will undoubtedly be remembered for the quality of the soccer played by Manchester City and for the extraordinary relegation battle that at various points in the last few weeks has involved at least ten teams.
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However, 2017/18 will also appear frequently in the history books as it has already seen a number of Premier League records fall, and many others are under threat. One of the most famous records that could be broken this year is Most Goals in a Season. The Premier League moved to 20 clubs in 1995, and the record for goals scored in a 38-game season stands at 31, achieved by Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Luis Suárez.
However, Liverpool goal-scoring machine Mohamed Salah has already reached 28 goals, pulling away from the injured Harry Kane in the Premier League Golden Boot race thanks to a four-goal performance against Watford. While Liverpool’s forward line as a whole has been prolific all season, Salah has been the most dangerous part of that trio, and his name on the team sheet is enough for bookmakers to significantly cut Liverpool’s odds to win the Champions League and finish in the top four of the Premier League.
It remains to be seen whether Salah will exceed that 31-goal target, but even if he falls short, this has already been a record-breaking season. Here are three of the biggest records broken in the Premier League during 2017-18.
The assistant
Arsenal have had a disappointing season, but their players have registered significant milestones, and two came in the same game! On March 11th, Mesut Özil became the fastest player to achieve 50 assists, hitting that target during the 3-0 win over Watford – his 141st game for the club. His inch-perfect free kick in the eighth minute was headed home by Shkodran Mustafi – a goal that was also Arsenal’s 1,000th in the Premier League.
In hitting his 50th assist, Özil surpassed the previous record, held by Eric Cantona, who had hit 50 in 143 games for Leeds and Manchester United. Overall, Özil is the 35th player to hit that milestone, though besides Özil, Ashley Young of Manchester United is the only other player in the top ten who is still playing. Özil’s record-breaking achievement came just days after he had registered two assists in the Gunners’ famous 2-0 win at the San Siro.
Keeping it clean
That victory over Watford saw another dependable Arsenal star bring up a personal milestone. Petr Čech has been a Premier League stalwart for both Chelsea and Arsenal, and his shutout against Watford brought up his 200th Premier League clean sheet. The bulk of those clean sheets were recorded for Chelsea, where his 11-year stint took him to within four of David James’s record of 169, and in just 332 matches, compared to James’s 572.
Čech was also the fastest player to achieve 100 clean sheets, shares the record for most Premier League Golden Gloves awards with Joe Hart, and at one time held the record for longest time period without conceding a goal, though that was beaten by Edwin van der Sar in 2009.
Pass masters
Manchester City’s possession-based approach saw them break the Premier League record for most passes in a game, recording 873 in their victory over West Bromwich Albion. But on March 5th, in the game against Chelsea, they shattered their own record, notching up 903 passes, and became the first side in the Premier League era to break the 900 barrier. With 167 passes, German midfielder İlkay Gündoğan also broke the individual passing record in that game, while left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko also cracked the top ten all-time list.
City’s elegant stroll to the Premier League title could also see more records fall in the final weeks of the season. Pep Guardiola’s side are closing in on nine separate milestones, including Most Points in a Season, Most Wins in a Season, Most Goals in a Season and Earliest Premier League Title Win – a record currently held by City’s rivals Manchester United, who won the 2000-01 Premier League title with five games to spare. Intriguingly, this is one record that City might break at the Etihad Stadium when they play the Manchester derby on April 7th – a fitting way to bring up the record, though United fans may not agree!
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However this campaign ends, it has already produced many memorable moments, and with Manchester City leading the way, the 2017-18 edition of the Premier League is likely to go down in history as a record-breaking season.
