5 of the best finishers in Premier League history

There’s no other way of putting it – some players just have a natural instinct to know where the back of the net is. The Premier League has seen some great goalscorers in its time – Alan Shearer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Aguero to name three – but there’s a difference between being a great goalscorer and a naturally born finisher – a predator in and outside the box.

It doesn’t really come down to any tangible quality, either – it’s not about being able to use both feet, or score long-range screamers, or have an incredibly accurate shot – sometimes it’s simply about being able to pop up, in the right spot, time and time again.

The following five might not be the best pure goalscorers in Premier League history, but in terms of finishers, you won’t find any better.

#1 Michael Owen

A natural born predator if there ever was one, Michael Owen is perhaps the best finisher ever produced in England in the Premier League era. The pint-sized striker scored goals for fun throughout his career as a schoolboy, and he didn’t slow down once he broke into Liverpool’s senior side in the late 1990’s, scoring his first goal in the 1996/97 season.

It was 1997/98 that really saw Owen put himself on the map, though – using his blistering pace to outrun even the most experienced defenders, he scored 18 goals in the league to claim the Golden Boot. That summer saw him explode onto the international scene with his now-legendary solo goal against Argentina for England in the World Cup second round, too.

Overall Owen scored more than 15 Premier League goals in all but one of his seasons for Liverpool, and even as his career began to tail off due to a series of bad injuries, he was still as deadly as ever – as he proved by scoring the winning goal for Manchester United in their famous 4-3 victory over rivals Manchester City in September 2009.

It didn’t matter whether it was with his right foot, left foot, from close range or long range – or indeed, even with his head, rare for a short player – Owen simply knew exactly how to put the ball in the back of the net. He’s one of the most lethal finishers of all time.

#2 Ruud Van Nistelrooy

While his career ended with more of a whimper than a bang, during his peak years at Manchester United there would’ve been a fair argument to make for Ruud Van Nistelrooy being the world’s best striker, at least in terms of his finishing skills. A record of 150 goals in 219 appearances – well over a goal every two games on average – is astonishing enough, but it was the nature of the majority of his goals that make him so well-remembered as a finisher.

Watching footage of Van Nistelrooy’s goals for United is telling – it was rare to see him put the ball in the net from outside the box and oftentimes he scored from inside the six-yard box. Few of his goals would be considered aesthetically pleasing. But once he had a clear-cut chance, basically the keeper stood none whatsoever.

Even the infamously hard-to-please Roy Keane – Van Nistelrooy’s captain during his time at Old Trafford – stated that he felt the Dutchman was the best finisher of all time. He was quoted as saying that when Ruud was in the box, “there may as well have been no goalkeeper”.

Left foot, right foot, head, it didn’t matter. Van Nistelrooy was a three-times Champions League top goalscorer, a top scorer in three European leagues, and is still the fourth-highest goalscorer in Champions League history. Quite why he’s somewhat overlooked these days I don’t know.

#3 Robbie Fowler

Although he ended up being overshadowed by Michael Owen as his career at Liverpool began to slow down, when he first broke through in the early 90’s, there wasn’t a better finisher around than Robbie Fowler. He was so good in fact that Liverpool’s fans nicknamed him “God”, and while he didn’t score quite as many goals as the likes of Alan Shearer, in the penalty box there was nobody better.

Fowler’s goal record for Liverpool was insane at his peak – practically a goal every game – and once he was given a sniff of a chance the ball usually ended up in the net.

An expert at capitalising on mistakes in particular, Fowler hit more than 30 goals for three consecutive seasons with the Reds, including a hat-trick in just his fifth league game, another hat-trick against Arsenal in under five minutes – then the fastest in Premier League history, and five in one cup tie against Fulham.

Perhaps his most famous goals? A pair of poacher’s efforts from inside the box in Liverpool’s legendary 4-3 victory over Newcastle in 1996. Overall Fowler finished his initial stint at Anfield with 120 goals in 236 appearances, and even his run at Leeds – largely remembered as a failure – saw him score 14 goals in 30 games.

#4 Jermain Defoe

For the best part of two decades now, Jermain Defoe has been one of the deadliest finishers in the Premier League. Granted, Defoe hasn’t ever won the Premier League title nor even the FA Cup, and he hasn’t won the Golden Boot in his career – his biggest haul came for Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham side in 2009/10, 24 goals in all competitions with 18 in the league – but this list isn’t necessarily about the most goals scored, it’s about the quality of finishing, and in the Premier League era few have ever been able to finish quite like the product from West Ham.

Give Defoe a sniff of the goal and the ball usually ends up in there. He’s not the quickest, not the biggest and not the strongest, but he simply has a special knack of finding himself in the right position at the right time – it’s instinct more than anything and it’s largely a skill that can’t be taught.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Defoe’s finishing record is the fact that outside of his two stints at Spurs, his goals all came at clubs who were struggling in the Premier League like Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Sunderland.

Defoe’s goal record is also excellent for England, particularly when you consider he was never truly the first choice striker for his country. He’s scored 20 goals in 57 appearances, many of those as a substitute, and even popped up when his country needed him in the 2010 World Cup to score the goal that beat Slovenia, allowing England safe passage through the group stage.

Both Harry Redknapp and Eddie Howe have described Defoe as the best finisher they’ve ever worked with, and that’s a pretty high compliment – particularly when you consider Redknapp worked with strikers of the calibre of Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch.

#5 Harry Kane

The Premier League today is filled with a myriad of deadly strikers – the likes of Alvaro Morata, Romelu Lukaku, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus are as dangerous as any to have graced the English top flight, while up-and-comers such as Tammy Abraham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are already proving themselves capable of taking the mantle in a few years. But head and shoulders above them all stands Harry Kane.

The Tottenham striker was once labelled a “one-season wonder” as he exploded onto the scene in 2014/15 to score 31 goals in all competitions after a series of failed loan stints at other clubs including Norwich and Leicester. Two and a half seasons later and the idea that Kane was merely in a purple patch is laughable. 2015/16 saw him hit 28 goals, 2016/17 saw him go seven better with 35, and he’s already scored a ludicrous 11 goals in 10 games this season – and that’s not counting his four with England, either.

Long range, close range, both feet, headers, you name the place or position, Kane is capable of scoring from it. Some would criticise and say he simply scores so many goals because he shoots so often, but the fact that he also assisted in 7 Premier League goals last season belies that idea.

Recently he scored what experts would label a “perfect hat-trick” against Cypriot club Apoel Nicosia in the Champions League – one goal with his right foot, one with his left foot, and one with his head. Simply put, he’s one of the best Premier League finishers of all time, and he’s got years left in the tank too.