We all remember the Premier League’s most prolific goalscorers, but how about the least?
Plenty has been made of Joe Gomez‘ ongoing quest for a first senior goal, with the Liverpool defender still yet to get on the scoresheet after over 250 appearances for club and country.
The Englishman is now just shy of the 150-game mark in his Premier League goal drought, with current form suggesting he is unlikely to break his duck anytime soon.
Remarkably however, this figure doesn’t even place Gomez in the top-flight’s top ten longest barren spells in front of goal.
Opta have compiled a list of the greatest goalless runs from Premier League players in its 33-year history, with some players taking their inability to find the net to extreme lengths.
= 15. Joe Gomez – 149 games
Since joining Liverpool as an 18-year-old in 2015, Gomez has established himself as an ever-reliable presence in the Reds’ back line.
The England international has been a regular fixture in a side which has lifted the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup in recent years, as well as the FA Cup and League Cup.
But his record in front of goal leaves a lot to be desired, with Gomez now yet to score in 149 top-flight appearances.
Worse still, he has never found the net at any level in senior football, also firing blanks for first club Charlton, and in his 15-cap England career.
= 15. Leon Britton – 149 games
Tied with Gomez in 15th is Swansea legend Britton, whose goalless streak spanned his entire Premier League career.
The midfielder climbed the Football League with the Swans, scoring 17 times for them across League Two, League One and the Championship before winning promotion to the top-flight in 2011.
But the goals dried up there for Britton, who failed to add to his tally during the Jacks’ seven-year stay at the top of the pyramid.
He retired from football in 2018, having made 520 appearances in all competitions for Swansea, which included three promotions, as well as lifting the 2013 League Cup.
13. Martin Kelly – 154 games
Next on the list is former Liverpool and Crystal Palace defender Kelly.
The one-cap England international featured in 33 Premier League games for the Reds without scoring, before failing to get off the mark in 121 outings for Palace between 2014 and 2022.
Despite never appearing on a top-flight scoresheet, Kelly boasts two career goals, which came in the League Cup and FA Cup respectively.
Having last played for Wigan in the Championship in 2023, Kelly’s chances of ending his Premier League goal drought are slim.
12. Rob Jones – 155 games
Former full-back Jones established himself as one of the best right-backs in English football after joining Liverpool from Crewe in 1991.
Although his athleticism made him a winger’s nightmare, the ex-England international was nowhere near as feared in the attacking half of the pitch.
With persistent injuries forcing him to retire at just 27 in 1999, Jones’ Premier League career ended without a single goal in 155 outings.
GettyA knee injury brought Jones’ playing days to an early end[/caption]
11. Dean Blackwell – 157 games
Closing in on the top ten is Wimbledon veteran Blackwell, who spent his eight-year spell in the Premier League in search of a goal.
A member of the ‘Crazy Gang’, the former centre-back helped the London club to an eighth-place league finish, as well as the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup in the 1996/97 campaign.
Despite being present for the entirety of the Dons’ top division stint between 1992 and 2000, Blackwell was never able to break his duck.
GettyBlackwell spent his entire Premier League career with Wimbledon[/caption]
10. Justin Edinburgh – 174 games
In tenth place is the late Edinburgh, who spent his entire top-flight career with Tottenham between 1990 and 2000.
A sturdy left-back, he made over 200 league appearances for Spurs and lifted the FA Cup with Spurs, but one thing was missing.
Though Edinburgh’s only goal for the club came in a league clash with Sheffield United, this was in 1991, a year before the Premier League’s creation, after which he failed to strike again.
The Englishman passed away in 2019, just after guiding Leyton Orient back into the Football League as manager.
9. Alan Kimble – 181 games
Like Blackwell, Kimble formed part of a no-nonsense Wimbledon defence in the early days of the Premier League up until the turn of the millennium.
While a goal eluded the left-back throughout his seven years in the division, he still proved an attacking threat.
Kimble provided 24 league assists during this period, making him the Premier League player who has created the most goals without ever scoring himself.
8. Lucas Radebe – 197 games
A cult hero among Leeds fans, Radebe made over 250 appearances at Elland Road between 1995 and 2005.
The majority of these came in the Premier League, where the commanding centre-half played a key role in the Whites’ success.
Appointed club captain in 1998, Radebe helped Leeds to a third-place league finish in the 1999/2000 season, before reaching the Champions League semi-finals the following year.
But it wasn’t his goalscoring ability which endeared him to supporters, with the South African failing to register a single league goal during this time.
GettyRadebe stayed at Leeds following their relegation to the Championship in 2004[/caption]
7. Steve Potts – 204 games
West Ham stalwart Potts recorded the seventh-longest goalless streak in the Premier League era, spanning from 1992 until 2002.
After graduating from the Hammers’ famous academy in 1984, the full-back went on to rack up 399 league appearances in his 17-year career at Upton Park.
In that time however, he scored just once, with his only strike coming in a 7-1 thrashing of Hull City in Division Two in 1990.
6. Danny Simpson – 213 games
The former Leicester full-back was part of one of football’s greatest ever stories when the Foxes lifted the Premier League in 2016.
Remarkably however, Simpson boasts more league titles than goals, having never found the back of the net for five different top-flight sides.
After starting out at Manchester United, the Englishman later lined up for Blackburn, Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers before heading to the King Power in 2014.
In 428 professional games, Simpson has struck just four times, all of which have come outside of England’s premier division.
GettySimpson played in 35 games of Leicester’s historic title-winning campaign[/caption]
5. Stephane Henchoz – 243 games
Bringing up the top five is former Blackburn, Liverpool and Wigan centre-back Henchoz.
The Swiss spent 10 seasons in English football between 1997/98 and 2007/08, with this proving a fruitful period.
During his six-year spell at Anfield, Henchoz was a key cog in a Reds side which won an historic cup treble in 2001.
But a top-flight goal does not feature on the ex-Switzerland international’s CV, with his only goal contribution a single assist registered during his second stint at Ewood Park in 2006.
4. Richard Shaw – 253 games
Shaw began his Premier League journey with Crystal Palace in 1992, before joining Coventry in 1995.
He would spent six seasons with them in the top-flight before they were relegated in 2000/01, having established himself as a reliable presence in defence.
However, the Palace academy graduate wasn’t quite as useful up the other end of the pitch during this time, with all of his career goals coming in the second-tier.
3. Des Walker – 264 games
A 59-cap England international, Walker was one of the finest English defenders of the 1980s and 1990s.
After proving himself in the First Division at Nottingham Forest, the former centre-back spent a season in Serie A with Sampdoria, before returning to English football with Sheffield Wednesday in 1993.
He made all of his Premier League appearances at Hillsborough, but was unable to add to the single top-flight goal he notched for Forest in 1992.
2. Tony Hibbert – 265 games
One-club man Hibbert spent his entire 17-career at Everton, where his inability to score became a running joke among fans.
As well as firing blanks in the Premier League, the Toffees icon failed to find the net in any of his 322 competitive appearances for the club
This prompted the Goodison Park faithful to affectionately chant: “If Hibbert scores, we riot!”
But Hibbert’s goal drought did eventually ‘end’, when he drove in a free-kick in his 2012 testimonial match against AEK Athens, which prompted a pitch invasion from delighted Everton supporters.
1. Kenny Cunningham – 335 games
First by some distance is ex-Wimbledon and Birmingham City defender Kenny Cunningham.
The Irishman first arrived on the Premier League scene with the Dons in 1994, where he failed to score in 250 outings.
A move to St Andrews in 2002 did little to boost his bid for a top-flight goal, with Cunningham unable to find the net in 144 league games for the Blues.
Cunningham hung up his boots in 2007 with over 500 Football League appearances to his name, having netted just twice in his career, both of which came for Millwall in the early 1990s.
GettyCunningham spent four years at Birmingham City between 2002 and 2006[/caption]
