The Premier League’s 2022-23 campaign is properly up and running now – but which players have scored the most goals in the competition over the course of the calendar year?
Just 12 men have scored more than 10 Premier League goals since January 1 2022, including four English players.
Here they are, ranked from 10th to 1st with minutes played used to separate those with the same goal totals. Note: Brighton’s Leandro Trossard and West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen have scored 11 goals apiece, but miss out on this top 10 on goals-per-minute.
=10. Cristiano Ronaldo – 11
This year has been fairly miserable for Ronaldo and Manchester United, but he did at least notch hat-tricks against Norwich and Tottenham. Ten of his 11 Premier League goals in 2022 came under Ralf Rangnick in the latter half of last season.
He’s not a guaranteed starter for United under Erik ten Hag, and the goals appear to be drying up. Opportunities have been limited, but one goal in nine appearances (430 minutes) is not the kind of return we’ve come to expect from the all-time great.
Ronaldo is 37 now and proving that time comes for us all.
=10. Gabriel Jesus – 11
The Brazilian hasn’t scored in his last six appearances for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, but even when he’s not scoring, he’s proving a brilliant foil at the tip of their attack.
Jesus is the only player on this list to have scored for two different clubs (six for Man City, five for Arsenal) – he’s undoubtedly been one of the signings of the season.
8. Mohamed Salah – 12
Liverpool’s Egyptian King slowed down in the latter half of the 2021-22 campaign, having endured AFCON heartbreak with his national team midway through.
Still, he did enough to clinch a third Golden Boot in five seasons and his return of four league goals amid Liverpool’s struggles in 2022-23 isn’t terrible.
He’ll be back to his best after the World Cup rest, surely.
=7. James Maddison – 13
Let’s not beat around the bush, Leicester have endured a shocking start to the season.
But in Maddison, they have a goalscorer and creator to give them hope that they can get themselves out of their current pickle.
Six of these 13 goals have come since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, which is a hell of a return given what’s going on around him. We still can’t understand why he’s not had an England cap since 2019.
=7. Kevin De Bruyne – 13
After a slow start to last season, with injuries disrupting his involvement at the Euros for Belgium, De Bruyne has returned to his imperious best in 2022.
The midfielder scored the winner against Chelsea in January, poached a brace during the spanking of Manchester United and opened the scoring during the title showdown against Liverpool in April.
He remains arguably the greatest midfielder in the world and is central to City’s hopes of success this season. The Belgian has three goals so far this season, but his nine assists in 12 games show you exactly what his job is going to be in 2022-23.
5. Wilfried Zaha – 14
Crystal Palace were one of last season’s success stories, with Patrick Vieira reinvigorating a stale squad and building an exciting side full of young attacking talent. But Zaha remains the main man at Selhurst Park.
And while Palace have not made the best start to the current campaign, Zaha has maintained his own form, scoring five goals in 11 games thus far. Overall in 2022, he’s managed a goal every 167 minutes in the Premier League.
Considering Zaha played at AFCON in January and February, his tally becomes even more impressive.
4. Ivan Toney – 16
Christian Eriksen pulled the strings from midfield as Thomas Frank’s Bees pulled themselves away from relegation trouble and up to the safety of midtable in the latter half of last season, but Toney scored the goals.
A hat-trick against Norwich, just when Brentford were beginning to wobble, could not have been timed better and the striker followed that with a crucial double against Burnley.
Strikes against Manchester United, West Ham and Wolves took the striker’s tally to eight before the end of the 2021-22 campaign and he’s added five more in 2022-23.
All that has led up to a really well-deserved England call-up this month and we’d not be at all surprised to see him in the 26-man squad for Qatar 2022.
3. Erling Haaland – 17
He was only signed in the summer and he’s already scored 17 Premier League goals. It won’t at all be a surprise to see him at the top of this list come the end of the year.
Terrifying.
2. Son Heung-min – 18
Son shared last season’s Golden Boot with Salah and 15 of his 23 Premier League goals came since the turn of the year.
The South Korea captain began 2022 with the winner at Watford and helped himself to a goal during the thrashings of Leeds and Everton. He then scored twice as Spurs beat neighbours and top-four rivals West Ham in March while netting a hat-trick during the dismantling of Aston Villa in April.
It took him a while to get off the mark in 2022-23, but when he did, it was spectacular. A banging hat trick against Leicester took him to 18 Premier League goals for the calendar year.
1. Harry Kane – 23
Kane has been brilliant in 2022, dovetailing expertly with Son and Dejan Kulusevksi and bagging 23 goals in the Premier League.
He’s well and truly put his poor form at the start of last season behind him and looks back to his best ahead of the World Cup.