Manchester City’s 4-0 win over Southampton on October 8 saw Kevin De Bruyne break the club’s record for the most Premier League assists.
The Belgium star has since taken his tally to 94 in just 227 appearances in England’s top division and is well on track to becoming just the fifth man to reach 100 in the competition.
The 31-year-old is also set to reach that milestone in record time: there is a good chance he will hit the 100-mark having made at least 100 fewer appearances in the competition than any other player.
Still, De Bruyne has some way to go to catch the all-time leading assister in Premier League history.
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Who has the most assists in Premier League history?
Ryan Giggs holds the record for the most assists in Premier League history. The Manchester United great provided 162 assists in 632 appearances during his 24-year senior career with the club.
Next on the list is Cesc Fabregas, the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder having provided 111 assists. Only two other players have managed more than 100 in the competition: Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard.
Only four of the top 20 are still playing in the Premier League as of 2022/23.
Premier League all-time most assists
| Player | Team(s) | Assists | Appearances | |
| 1. | Ryan Giggs | Manchester United | 162 | 632 |
| 2. | Cesc Fabregas | Arsenal, Chelsea | 111 | 350 |
| 3. | Wayne Rooney | Everton, Manchester United | 103 | 491 |
| 4. | Frank Lampard | Chelsea, Manchester City | 102 | 609 |
| 5. | Kevin De Bruyne* | Manchester City | 95 | 227 |
| 6. | Dennis Bergkamp | Arsenal | 94 | 315 |
| 7. | David Silva | Manchester City | 93 | 309 |
| 8. | Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | 92 | 504 |
| 9. | James Milner* | Leeds United, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool | 87 | 600 |
| 10. | David Beckham | Manchester United | 80 | 265 |
| 11. | Teddy Sheringham | Tottenham, Manchester United, Portsmouth, West Ham | 76 | 418 |
| 12. | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 74 | 258 |
| 13. | Andrew Cole | Newcastle United, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth, Sunderland | 73 | 414 |
| 14. | Christian Eriksen* | Tottenham, Brentford, Manchester United | 72 | 253 |
| 15. | Ashley Young* | Watford, Aston Villa, Manchester United | 71 | 408 |
| 16. | Darren Anderton | Tottenham, Birmingham City | 68 | 319 |
| 17. | Gareth Barry | Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton, West Brom | 64 | 653 |
| = | Alan Shearer | Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United | 64 | 441 |
| 19. | Matthew Le Tissier | Southampton | 63 | 270 |
| 20. | Nolberto Solano | Newcastle United, Aston Villa, West Ham United | 62 | 302 |
*Denotes active player still in the Premier League
Most assists in a Premier League season
The most assists by any one player in a single Premier League season is 20.
Thierry Henry was the first man to hit that tally, doing so in 2002/03 (in which he also scored 24 goals, behind only Ruud van Nistelrooy on 25). Kevin De Bruyne then matched the former Arsenal star by recording 20 assists for Man City in 2019/20.
De Bruyne needs another 12 in 2022/23 to set a new record.
Most assists in a Premier League match
The most assists by any one player in a single Premier League match is four. Seven players have managed it, and four of them played for Arsenal at the time.
The first was Dennis Bergkamp, who provided four assists in the Gunners’ 5-0 win over Leicester City in February 1999. It was not until 2006 that the feat was repeated, this time by Jose Antonio Reyes in Arsenal’s 7-0 thrashing of Middlesbrough, when Henry scored a hat-trick to equal Cliff Bastin’s record of 150 league goals for the club.
Cesc Fabregas got four assists for Arsene Wenger’s side as they recovered from a fourth-minute Steven Nzonzi goal to beat Blackburn Rovers 6-2 in October 2009. Three years later, former Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor set up four goals in the first half alone as Tottenham ran out 5-0 winners over Newcastle.
Order was restored the following May as an Arsenal star became the fifth player to get four assists in a Premier League game: this time, Santi Cazorla helping the Gunners to a 4-1 win over Wigan Athletic that saw their opponents relegated.
It would be another seven years until Harry Kane set up all four of Son Heung-min’s goals as Tottenham defeated Southampton 5-2. Then, in August 2021, Paul Pogba became the first player not in a Spurs or Arsenal shirt to manage four assists in a game in Manchester United’s 5-1 demolition of Leeds United.
Indeed, the France star reached seven assists in the opening four matches for United in 2021/22, prompting suggestions he could be the first man to reach 21 in a single season – but he only set up a further two goals in England’s top flight before returning to Juventus on a free transfer.
What is an assist?
In football/soccer, an assist is awarded to the player who makes the final pass before a goal is scored by a team-mate. It could be a defence-splitting throughball, a pinpoint cross or just a simple nudge of the ball to one side (see Sergio Busquets ‘assisting’ Lionel Messi to score against Real Madrid back in 2011).
#ElClásico match-winner again?
⏪ Leo Messi did THIS in 2011 🔥 #UCL @FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/Hn1HQU1kVV
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 6, 2019
An assist doesn’t have to be intentional, though. For instance, if a player scores a goal after the ball bounces kindly to them after hitting the back of their team-mate’s head, that team-mate will be credited with setting up the goal.
However, a player is not awarded an official assist if he or she wins a penalty for another to score, nor if they have a shot saved by the opposing goalkeeper and a team-mate scores from the rebound.
