The best partnerships in the Premier League, by chances created, have now been revealed, and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne & Erling Haaland are not on top of the list.
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The two players combined throughout the 2022/23 campaign, helping Man City to win their third successive Premier League title en route to a first treble in their history.
De Bruyne created 26 chances for Haaland, out of a total of 32 chances directly involving the duo. And the Norwegian star going on to win the division’s Golden Boot by scoring a Premier League record of 36, the influence of De Bruyne is clear.
Speaking earlier this season, Arsenal legend Martin Keown described the pairing as the greatest duo the Premier League has ever seen.
He told talkSPORT: “I thought Bergkamp and Henry was one hell of a partnership for Arsenal back in the day, but in De Bruyne and Haaland, I think maybe it’s gone to another level.”
But despite their importance to City’s treble triumph, De Bruyne and Haaland did not come out on top in the ranking of the division’s best partnerships in the 2022/23 season.
The Manchester City pairing are only third on a the Premier League list, posted by Opta, of the division’s top duos for the most recent season.
But, De Bruyne created more chances for Haaland than Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard did for team-mate Bukayo Saka (20). The North London side finished second behind City in the Premier League last campaign.
In second on the list are Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar, with the Magpies right-back creating 27 chances for the defender over the course of the season – underlining his attacking ability.
But the most effective partnership in the English top-flight, as per this metric, is that of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes & Rashford.
Fernandes created 36 chances for Rashford over the season, and features on the ranking twice due to his partnership with Brazilian star Antony.
The list is as follows:
7. Morgan Gibbs-White to Brennan Johnson (Nottingham) – 20 chances created
6. Bruno Fernandes to Antony (Man United) – 20
5. Martin Odegaard to Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) – 20
4. Andreas Pereira to Mitrovic (Fulham) – 23
3. Kevin De Bruyne to Erling Haaland (Man City) – 26
2. Kieran Trippier to Fabian Schar (Newcastle) – 27
1. Bruno Fernandes to Rashford (Man United) – 36
