Where Have All the Premier League Goals Gone? ...Middle East

Stat, Viz, Quiz is the Opta Analyst football newsletter. This week’s edition looks at goalless draws, goalless players, and the AFCON final.

Wolves’ goalless draw with Newcastle United on Sunday was not exactly a fascinating spectacle, but it did lead to an interesting stat.

It was the 17th 0-0 draw in the Premier League this season, meaning there have already been more goalless games in England’s top flight in 2025-26 than there were in the whole of last season, and the season before that. In this week’s SVQ, we investigate the return of the 0-0 in the Premier League.

Along a similar theme, we will also answer an interesting Ask Opta question about goalless players, but our quiz does feature questions about goals, we promise.

There was only one goal in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, but that barely scratches the surface of what happened in the game, and that’s where we begin this week…

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STAT – The Most Dramatic AFCON Final?

Did you watch the Africa Cup of Nations final? If not, you missed out. It was more dramatic and tense than The Traitors.

Hosts Morocco took on Senegal in Rabat looking to win their first AFCON title since 1976, but the Lions of Teranga had other ideas.

As was expected, it was a tight game. The previous 13 AFCON finals had all either been decided by a single goal or went to penalties, and this one was no different.

Senegal thought they’d won it in second-half stoppage-time when Ismaïla Sarr headed in from a corner, but the referee blew for a foul before the Crystal Palace winger scored. The drama had only just begun, though.

A VAR on-field review was recommended just a few minutes later after El Hadji Malick Diouf was adjudged to have fouled Morocco’s Brahim Díaz at the other end. The referee awarded a penalty, and Senegal were not best pleased about it, to say the least.

A protest eventually led to them leaving the field, only for captain Sadio Mané to seemingly convince his teammates to return. After a hefty delay, Díaz dinked his penalty straight into the arms of Édouard Mendy anyway.

Almost inevitably, Senegal went on to win in extra-time after Pape Gueye’s stunning strike, making it yet another AFCON final to be decided by a single goal.

The ball was in play for just 38.1% of the game, the second lowest percentage in any of the 365 matches Opta has on record at AFCON since 2010. That was perhaps not too surprising, though, given the delay over the penalty, which was taken in the 24th minute of second-half stoppage-time.

Just to make the moment even more special, Gueye’s goal was Senegal’s 100th in AFCON history, while he also became the first player to score in extra-time in an AFCON final since Ndaye Mulamba in the 117th minute of DR Congo vs Zambia in 1974.

For every winner, there must be a loser, though, and you’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel sympathy for Díaz and Morocco, who are the fourth host nation to lose in the final of an Africa Cup of Nations, but only the second to do so after extra-time, after Tunisia in 1965 (3-2 vs Ghana).

Still, the Atlas Lions will have another chance to win their second AFCON in 2027, where Senegal will also be looking to defend their title.

It was a low-scoring game, but no-one could say it was anything other than captivating, even if it was for slightly unsavoury reasons.

VIZ – Goalless Glut

Most low-scoring games are less captivating. When we watch football, people generally want to see goals.

Then again, there’s something to be said for the art of defending. This assumption that a lack of goals equals a lack of quality somewhat ignores the skill in stopping your opponent from scoring.

And we have been treated to plenty of goals in recent seasons. There were 1,246 scored in the Premier League in the 2023-24 campaign, the most ever in the competition’s history in a single season at an average of 3.3 per game, while last season had 1,115 goals, with the second highest average in the Premier League era (2.9 per game).

Maybe that’s why teams have made a concerted effort to be more defensively solid this season, which in turn may be why we have had fewer goals.

After Matchday 22, there have been 603 goals at an average of 2.7 per game, still the 13th highest in Premier League history, but down on the last two seasons.

Of special interest to us, though, is the subject of 0-0 draws. We really didn’t see many of them in the last two seasons, with just 11 in 2023-24 (2.9%) and 16 in 2024-25 (4.2%), the two lowest totals in Premier League history. Prior to that, there had never been fewer than 21 in a single season in the competition (5.5%).

After 220 games in 2025-26, there have already been 17 goalless draws (7.7%), including another two on MD22 with Nottingham Forest and Arsenal playing out a 0-0 draw on Saturday before Wolves and Newcastle did the same on Sunday.

As you can see from this week’s viz, it seems to be quite a fluctuating trend, rarely staying as a low or high percentage for more than a season or two, so don’t panic if you want to see more goals and fewer 0-0s.

And if you want to read more on this topic, we’ll be taking a bigger look at it later this week here on the Opta Analyst website.

QUIZ – Late Leeds, Solid Sunderland, and Vanquished Villa

1. Only two players have scored more goals from fast breaks than Bryan Mbuemo (5) since the start of last season. Name either of them.

2. At 90 minutes and seven seconds, Lukas Nmecha’s goal against Fulham was Leeds United’s first stoppage-time winner in a Premier League game since who netted at 93:19 against Brentford on the final day of the 2021-22 season?

3. Dominik Szoboszlai hit the crossbar with a penalty against Burnley, ending a run of 12 converted penalties by Liverpool players in the Premier League since who hit the post for the Reds against Chelsea in January 2024?

4. Sunderland are one of just two sides yet to lose at home in the Premier League this season, along with who?

5. Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Everton was only their second defeat in their last 29 Premier League home games (W19 D8). It ended an eight-game winning streak at Villa Park in the league since they lost 3-0 to who in August?

Scroll to the bottom for the answers

Ask Opta

Our question this week comes from Richard Carver, who asks: “I heard on the commentary last night that Joe Gomez has played 250+ games for Liverpool without scoring a goal and that got me thinking, who is the player (outfield) who has played the most Premier League games without ever scoring? It doesn’t have to be for the same club.”

Do you have a stat-based question you’d like Opta to answer in a future edition of SVQ? Email us at [email protected] or message us on X @OptaAnalyst with #AskOpta and we’ll pick the best one.

Answer:

Indeed, Joe Gomez has now played 256 games for Liverpool in all competitions and is yet to score his first goal for the club.

In terms of just Premier League games, the player to have featured the most in the competition without finding the net is Kenny Cunningham. The Republic of Ireland international played 335 Premier League games in total (201 for Wimbledon, 134 for Birmingham City) and did not score once.

Tony Hibbert is in second place, with all his 265 goalless Premier League games coming for Everton, just one ahead of Des Walker’s 264 appearances for Sheffield Wednesday.

Richard Shaw (253 games) was unable to find the net in the Premier League for either Crystal Palace or Coventry City, while Stéphane Henchoz also didn’t score in any of his 243 outings across spells at Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and Wigan Athletic.

Gomez has played 159 Premier League games for Liverpool, placing him 11th in this not-particularly-desirable list.

Quiz Answers

1. Only two players have scored more goals from fast breaks than Bryan Mbuemo (5) since the start of last season. Name either of them.

Mohamed Salah (8) and Antoine Semenyo (6)

2. At 90 minutes and seven seconds, Lukas Nmecha’s goal against Fulham was Leeds United’s first stoppage-time winner in a Premier League game since who netted at 93:19 against Brentford on the final day of the 2021-22 season?

Jack Harrison

3. Dominik Szoboszlai hit the crossbar with a penalty against Burnley, ending a run of 12 converted penalties by Liverpool players in the Premier League since who hit the post for the Reds against Chelsea in January 2024?

Darwin Núñez

4. Sunderland are one of just two sides yet to lose at home in the Premier League this season, along with who?

Arsenal

5. Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Everton was only their second defeat in their last 29 Premier League home games (W19 D8). It ended an eight-game winning streak at Villa Park in the league since they lost 3-0 to who in August?

Crystal Palace

Before You Go…

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Where Have All the Premier League Goals Gone? Opta Analyst.

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