The Most Prolific Partnerships in Premier League History - Ranked

The Premier League's near 30-year history has seen its fair share of fantastic striking partnerships.

From Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton's SAS in the early 1990s, to the pairing of Luis Suárez and Daniel Sturridge - who ironically had the same moniker forced upon them two decades later - there have been a number of standout duos who would give defenders nightmares.

Neither of those double acts, however, troubles the list of highest scoring partnerships in Premier League history, in the context of providing goals and assists directly to one another. So who are the top dogs in this particular category?

Read on as 90min spins you through the runners and riders...

11. Sergio Agüero & Kevin De Bruyne (20)

In Kevin De Bruyne's first ever start alongside Sergio Agüero at Manchester City, the Argentinian front man was the one to lay a pass into the path of his new Belgian teammate.

However, that would prove to be an anomaly in the relationship, as De Bruyne has played the role of provider for the subsequent 19 goals the pair have combined for to date.

10. Eric Cantona & Ryan Giggs (20)

Eric Cantona was the defining figure of the Manchester United side which enjoyed newfound success in the early years of the Premier League. Not only was Ryan Giggs an integral player in that team, but he remained a part of Sir Alex Ferguson's era-defining reign until the early 2010s.

In the five seasons the pair shared together at Old Trafford, Cantona and Giggs formed a balanced partnership, with the former assisting the latter nine times and the reverse cropping up on 11 occasions.

9. Christian Eriksen & Harry Kane (21)

Harry Kane's hunger for goals skirted the realms of absurdity when, in April 2018, he declared: "I swear on my daughter's life that I touched the ball." Tottenham's talisman was making his (unnecessarily emotive) case that Christian Eriksen's free-kick against Stoke City had brushed him en route to goal.

Those on the infamous Dubious Goals Panel agreed with Kane and, in awarding him the goal, added another effort to the growing tally of strikes borne out of his partnership with the Dane.

Eriksen was also the provider for Kane's first ever Premier League goal back in the heady days of 2013/14, when a gilet-clad Tim Sherwood strode smugly across the Tottenham touchline, constantly turning to his win percentage but rarely the future England captain in his ranks.

8. Alan Shearer & Nolberto Solano (22)

Nolberto Solano summed up his relationship with Newcastle United's record goal scorer succinctly when he said: "He liked to score goals and I very much enjoyed assisting them."

In Shearer's long and illustrious career as the Premier League's all-time top scorer, no player can better Solano's tally of 16 assists for the Newcastle icon.

7. Thierry Henry & Freddie Ljungberg (24)

Given the industrial quantities in which Thierry Henry scored goals, it can sometimes go overlooked how brutally prolific he was as a provider.

Of Henry's 74 league assists - enough to see him ranked 11th in the Premier League era - no fewer than 15 provided were delivered to Freddie Ljungberg, his most common recipient.

6. Robbie Fowler & Steve McManaman (24)

When Steve McManaman took Robbie Fowler out for a quiet drink to tell him about his imminent move to Real Madrid in the summer 1999, Liverpool's dynamic striker was almost reduced to tears.

As Fowler revealed on BT Sport: "I was gutted, not only for the simple fact that you were a mate but also the fact that we were losing a great player."

In the previous five seasons, McManaman had teed Fowler up for 20 goals - and in 1994/95, all eight of McManaman's assists were scored by his prolific striker partner. No wonder Fowler was upset.

5. Darren Anderton & Teddy Sheringham (27)

The striker partnership most readily associated with Teddy Sheringham is surely his international link up with Shearer.

However, at club level, the clever forward's most prolific partner came in the form of Darren Anderton across two spells at Tottenham.

4. Sergio Agüero & David Silva (29)

Two of Manchester City's defining players of the modern era helpfully enjoyed a sublime, almost telepathic relationship at the sharp end of the pitch.

Agüero had been on the field for barely ten minutes before he teed up Silva in a stunning Premier League debut. It took until Agüero's fourth league appearance before Silva could return the favour but the pair scarcely slowed down after that.

3. Thierry Henry & Robert Pires (29)

For a pairing which combined for such a vast tally of goals, their most famous link up resulted in nothing more than embarrassment for all involved.

With Arsenal leading Manchester City by a single goal in 2005 - and after Pires had dispatched a spot-kick in that very game - Arsenal's number seven attempted to roll the ball into the path of Henry from a penalty, only to miss his kick and incite the considerable ire of Danny Mills.

Fortunately - for Pires, given Arsène Wenger described him as a 'lucky boy' post-match - the game ended with an Arsenal win and the pair would combine (in open play) five more times in what remained of Pires' final season at Highbury.

2. Harry Kane & Son Heung-Min (31)

Where Tottenham's lethal duo will stand on this list by the time they're finished remains to be seen, but whether teams sit deep or stand off, Kane and Son seem unstoppable at finding each other to devastating effect.

31 and counting for a pair who are taking the Premier League by storm under Jose Mourinho's watchful eye, having previously been the cornerstones of Mauricio Pochettino's impressive regime.

1. Didier Drogba & Frank Lampard (36)

Lampard was quick to credit Drogba's impact on his own career when the former Ivory Coast international left Stamford Bridge for the second time in 2015, writing on Instagram: "Without him I wouldn't have enjoyed the personal success I had at Chelsea."

Chelsea's goalscoring midfielder would also have had 24 fewer assists which were finished by Drogba during their eight seasons together in west London.