Premier League most assists: Palmer, Salah and Saka set early pace

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 1 Sept 2024 18:12 BST
• 9 min read

After Ollie Watkins came out on top last season, it is time to find out which player will have the most Premier League assists in the 2024/25 campaign.

With an incredible playmaking record since joining Manchester City, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne came into last season as the player to beat in the race to have the most goals created in England’s top flight.

However, a major injury early in the season impacted his hopes and the Belgium star ultimately lost out to Aston Villa forward Watkins despite mounting an impressive charge over the final weeks of the campaign. Watkins had the Premier League most assists with 13 goals created, but it is De Bruyne who starts the new campaign as favourite.

READ MORE: Most Assists In Europe 2024/25

Cole Palmer, Kieran Trippier, Mohamed Salah and Martin Odegaard were some of the biggest names who also ran Watkins close in the battle to become the most creative player in England’s top flight.

Tottenham duo Son Heung-min and Brennan Johnson mounted their own challenge for the Playmaker of the Season award, while Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon also reached double figures for assists in a competitive contest.

All of those players will again hope to be involved in the race to register the most Premier League assists this season, while Pedro Neto was one of the other leading creative forces in 2023/24 until he was slowed by an injury. After swapping Wolves for Chelsea in the summer, he is even more of a major contender this time.

READ MORE: Premier League 2024/25 Top Scorers

There are also some other star players who have often generated impressive EPL assists records in the past but did not reach double figures last season, such as Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, who both feature prominently in the pre-season betting odds and are tipped for strong creative campaigns.

Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Darwin Nunez, Bruno Guimaraes and James Maddison are some of the creative players who will be eager to stake a claim in the EPL assist rankings for 2024/25.

Some summer transfer signings will also hope to make an immediate impression by having the most Premier League goals created, such as Man Utd forward Joshua Zirkzee, Man City's Savinho and Chelsea’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

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With so many capable creative talents, the race looks set to be entertaining and wide open. There is also the chance of a surprise winner emerging, but recent history suggests a big-name player is likely to have the most EPL assists.

This page will be updated over the course of the 2024/25 season as we take an in-depth look at the latest standings for Premier League assists. Check back after every matchday to see who is in the leading positions.

Premier League most assists 2024/25

The Premier League season for 2024/25 started on Friday August 16 when Manchester United hosted Fulham and won 1-0. The rest of the teams then played their first matches across August 17, 18 and 19 on a bumper opening weekend.

Matchday two also generated plenty of excitement, with two hat-tricks scored and some eye-catching results.

And there was also drama on MD3, which saw Erling Haaland register a second hat-trick of the season and Mohamed Salah shine as Liverpool thumped Man Utd at Old Trafford.

The EPL assist standings are therefore up and running, with Cole Palmer claiming an early lead.

There were some big names and candidates for Playmaker of the Year glory who got off to a fast start in the creative charts on MD1. They included Salah, Bukayo Saka, James Maddison and Alejandro Garnacho.

Saka and Maddison increased their tallies further with assists on MD2 as Arsenal and Tottenham saw off Aston Villa and Everton respectively.

Playmaker of the Year favourite Kevin De Bruyne also got off the mark with an assist as Man City thumped Ipswich Town 4-1, with Erling Haaland netting a hat-trick.

But it was Palmer who soared into the lead in the rankings for most goals created in the Premier League by registering three assists in one match. Chelsea thrashed Wolves 6-2 in a huge away win.

While Palmer scored a stunning goal, his performance also included three assists, as he set up each of the goals scored by team-mate Noni Madueke on a great outing for the Blues.

Palmer increased his total by setting up Nicolas Jackson in Sunday's 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace on MD3.

Saka, meanwhile, made it three assists in as many games when he created a goal for Kai Havertz in Arsenal's home draw with Brighton. He is the first Arsenal player since Thierry Henry in 2004 to set up a goal in each of the Gunners' opening three matches.

Salah set up two goals for team-mate Luis Diaz - as well as scoring himself - as Liverpool beat Man Utd 3-0. That means he sits level with Saka on three assists, one behind Palmer at the top.

Ollie Watkins topped the assist standings for 2023/24, registering 13 assists. He also had 19 goals in a fine Premier League campaign, helping Aston Villa to surprisingly reach the top four.

England striker Watkins saw off a strong challenge from Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer (11 assists) to win the Playmaker of the Season award and became the first Villa player to achieve the feat.

READ MORE: Arsenal 2024/25 Top Scorers

Kevin De Bruyne also made a late charge up the assists rankings after missing much of the season through injury. His creative form was crucial to Man City's title pursuit as Pep Guardiola's men won a historic fourth straight crown. But he had to settle for a share of third place in these standings with eight other creative stars, all of whom had 10 assists.

De Bruyne did have the most Premier League assists in 2022/23, setting up 16 goals as Man City won the title. Mohamed Salah and Leandro Trossard were tied for second place with 12 assists each.

Incredibly, it was the fourth time that De Bruyne has topped the Premier League assist charts since signing for Man City from Wolfsburg in 2015.

It is an impressive list of names who have previously topped the EPL assist rankings over the course of a whole season. Salah has achieved the feat before, as has Liverpool great Steven Gerrard.

READ MORE: Real Madrid 2024/25 Top Scorers

Harry Kane, Eden Hazard, Mesut Ozil and Cesc Fabregas are the other players to have claimed the accolade over the past decade.

Premier League most assists in a season

The record for the most goals created in a single Premier League season is 20 assists, an honour shared between Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry.

READ MORE: European Golden Shoe 2024/25 Standings

Arsenal great Henry produced his astonishing total of 20 assists in the 2002/03 season. It took 17 years for someone to match it, with De Bruyne achieving the feat in 2019/20.

Mesut Ozil came agonisingly close to claiming a share of the record in 2015/16, recording 19 assists in a brilliant individual season for Arsenal.

Prior to matching the record, De Bruyne also had a near miss of his own, producing 18 assists in the 2016/17 campaign. Two years earlier, Cesc Fabregas also produced an 18-assist campaign for Chelsea.

Most assists in a single Premier League game

The highest total in a single Premier League game is four assists and it is a feat which has now been achieved by nine different EPL players.

READ MORE: Manchester United 2024/25 Top Scorers

Jeremy Doku was the last man to do it in November 2023.

In a sensational performance, Doku scored once and had four assists as Man City thrashed Bournemouth 6-1 in the Premier League. Then a 21-year-old, Doku made history as the youngest EPL player to have recorded four assists in a single game.

Paul Pogba had been the previous player to achieve it, creating four goals when Man Utd beat Leeds 5-1 in August 2021.

Harry Kane, Emmanuel Adebayor and Dusan Tadic are three of the players who have had four-assist matches in the Premier League.

Arsenal players seem to fare particularly well in this record. The other four stars to register four assists in a game all did so while representing the Gunners: Dennis Bergkamp, Jose Antonio Reyes, Cesc Fabregas and Santi Cazorla.

Premier League most assists of all time

Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has the most Premier League assists of all time.

READ MORE: Chelsea 2024/25 Top Scorers

Giggs reached a huge total of 162 assists across an illustrious top-flight career that spanned 632 matches.

But Kevin De Bruyne is rising fast up the standings, starting this season on 112 assists, within 50 of the record held by Giggs.

At the start of the 2024/25 season, ex-Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas was in third place with 111 assists, with Wayne Rooney next on 103.

Frank Lampard (102), Dennis Bergkamp (94), David Silva (93), Steven Gerrard (92), James Milner (87) and David Beckham (80) are the other EPL greats sitting in the top 10 for goals created.

It is Man City star De Bruyne who has the best assists per game total in the top-10 list. He was the fastest player to reach 50 EPL assists, doing so in just 123 games, and also the quickest to a century, getting there in the space of only 237 matches.

De Bruyne moved up to second place overall in the 2023/24 season but still has some way to go if he hopes to pass Giggs.