Bukayo Saka On Course to Reach Breathtaking Milestone Before Turning 24 at His Current Output Rate

Bukayo Saka goals and assists have been plentiful so far this season – Arsenal’s sprightly fulcrum appears to be a man in a hurry. After surpassing Marcus Rashford’s goal involvement milestone before turning 24, he is chasing down the leading pack for the record.

Bukayo Saka Goals and Assists This Season

The Hale End heartbeat of Arsenal’s blossoming title challengers appears to be taking his game to an entirely new level this season – and perhaps in an entirely new direction.

Each of his five seasons in the Premier League have seen him register more goals than assists, but his new-found role as the Gunners’ creator-in-chief has come at a pivotal moment – particularly in the absence of captain Martin Odegaard.

He is starting to display the type of Arjen Robben-esque inevitably when cutting in from the right flank, with defenders still unable to do much in the way of stopping him.

Seven assists and two goals have bumped his tally up to nine involvements this season in just seven appearances.

More assists than anyone across Europes top five leagues, as well as top in the Premier League for Expected Assists (xA), chances created, and big chances created – these are the kind of numbers that start to build a picture of an all-time great campaign.

Bukayo Saka has generated the most Expected Assists in the Premier League this season (5.88).

Given his current creative output, he’d be expected to assist 0.90 goals every game. pic.twitter.com/SPNeR6Ir12

— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) October 8, 2024

Most Premier League Goals and Assists Before Turning 24

1. Michael Owen – 138
2. Wayne Rooney – 133
3. Robbie Fowler – 129
4. Romelu Lukaku – 112
5. Cristiano Ronaldo – 110
6. Cesc Fabregas – 105
7. Raheem Sterling – 96
8. Bukayo Saka – 91

Saka’s two assists and a goal against Southampton means he jumps ahead of both Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane for Premier League goals and assists before turning 24.

It leaves him on 91 in 177 appearances, and while that is a respectable rate of 0.51 involvements per-game, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

His formative years under Unai Emery saw him emerge as a utility man, often deployed at left-back in his first two seasons until his attacking output became too hard to ignore.

His output in his opening two Premier League seasons sat at 0.2 and 0.25 respectively – this has surged up to 0.65 in 2022/23 and 0.71 last season.

At his current rate of 0.51, it would take him 93 games to level Michael Owen’s record of 138 goals and assists before turning 24, although that rate is slightly skewed by his defensive duties as a youngster.

If we were to take his breathtaking form of late, he could well break the record this season should he continue on his current path of 1.28 contributions per-game.

For reference, Saka has until September 5th 2025 until he turns 24. Given there were three match days before this date in the current campaign, we can estimate Saka has potentially 34 games in which to break the record.

If he were to break the record, he would need to bump his current rate up to 1.4 goals and assists per-game according to those metrics.

Can Bukayo Saka Break the Record For Most Premier League Assists in a Season?

One assist per-game so far this campaign puts Bukayo Saka on course for a potentially record-breaking season.

At this stage in the 2002/03 season, joint-record holder Thierry Henry only had four assists, while Kevin De Bruyne had eight in 2019/20.

He needs 14 assist to break the record, which he could achieve by the halfway stage of the season if he continues at his current rate.

He is also just 12 behind Mesut Ozil’s assist tally for Arsenal.