The 15 best strikers in the Premier League right now have been ranked (2024)

Scoring goals is one of the hardest things in football, but it's also one of the most important. At the end of the day, goals win games, and finding the back of the net in the Premier League is particularly difficult, given strikers are often up against some of the best defenders in the world.

Over the years, though, there have been some brilliant centre-forwards in the English top flight. Alan Shearer, Luis Suarez, and Didier Drogba are just some of the names that come to mind when thinking about the greatest marksmen in the game.

Today, the league is blessed to have arguably the best goalscorer in the world in the form of Erling Haaland playing in the Premier League. But others such as Ollie Watkins and Alexander Isak proved in 2023/24 that they are clinical in front of goal too.

So, who are the 15 finest forwards in the Premier League right now? GIVEMESPORT has ranked the division's finest sharpshooters.

Ranking factors

• How well they performed in the 2023/24 season.
• Their status compared to other strikers - where do they stand in the pecking order?
• Overall importance to their respective teams - how well do their sides perform with/without them?
• Success - how successful they have been at their current sides, both collectively and individually.
• Injuries - sustained periods on the sidelines were taken into account.

15 Niclas Fullkrug

West Ham

Niclas Fullkrug's move to West Ham raised eyebrows among some football fans but he arrives in England with a good, recent track record for scoring goals at the highest level. Fullkrug netted 16 times for Werder Bremen in 2022-23 before moving to Borussia Dortmund and scoring 15 times.

Fullkrug's stay in Dortmund was a short one, as he decided to move to the Premier League this summer at the age of 31. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to life in England's top flight, particularly at a time when physical strikers, in particular Erling Haaland, are thriving in the division.

14 Chris Wood

Nottingham Forest

Chris Wood is not the most glamorous name on this list, but over the years he has proven himself to be a reliable Premier League striker. Wood has played for West Brom, Leicester, Burnley, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest in the English top flight, and has just had his joint-best season for goals in the division.

Wood scored 14 times for Forest during the 2023-24 Premier League campaign, a feat he also managed with Burnley during the 2019-20 campaign. Wood may now be 32 but he has never been a player who relied on his pace, and should have a good few more years in him at the top.

13 Evan Ferguson

Brighton

Evan Ferguson is one of the most highly rated young strikers in the Premier League, but truth be told he had a disappointing 2023-24 season, scoring just six goals for Brighton in the Premier League. However, his potential is there for all to see and he will expect to kick on during the 2024-25 campaign.

Ferguson has a lot of the attributes that all strikers dream of - power, pace and finishing ability. The Ireland international's career highlight remains the hat-trick he scored in a win over Newcastle in September 2023, but that is a feat he will hope to surpass this season.

12 Jean-Philippe Mateta

Crystal Palace

Jean-Philippe Mateta has actually been at Crystal Palace since January 2021, but non-Palace fans would be forgiven for thinking he only joined the Eagles last season. Mateta's first two full seasons at Palace saw him score just seven Premier League goals, but in 2023-24 he bagged a total of 16 top-flight goals, ending the season as one of the division's most in-form strikers.

If Palace can keep their squad together ahead of the new season, the likes of Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton will no doubt provide Mateta with plenty of opportunities to score many more goals.

11 Rasmus Hojlund

Manchester United

After enduring a tumultuous start to his Manchester United career, exemplified by his teammates' lack of creativity, Rasmus Hojlund enjoyed a much more fruitful 2024, scoring all 10 of his Premier League goals after Christmas.

The Dane shouldered much of the goalscoring burden at Old Trafford last season and the arrival of Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee should take some of the pressure off the youngster this time around. Viewed as a solution to the club’s long-standing woes in the striker department, Hojlund could spearhead his side for the next decade.

10 Nicolas Jackson

Chelsea

Nicolas Jackson was mercilessly mocked for his profligacy in front of goal during his debut season at Chelsea but what many fans might not realise is just how many goals he scored for the Blues. Jackson scored 17 goals in the 2023-24 season, including a respectable 14 in the Premier League.

With a full season under his belt, Jackson will expect to improve upon that tally next term if he features as regularly under Enzo Maresca as he did under Mauricio Pochettino.

9 Darwin Nunez

Liverpool

Some fans were quick to jump on Darwin Nunez following his transfer from Benfica to Liverpool, and he has certainly been guilty of wasting some big chances. He ended the 2022-23 season with just nine league goals from 29 appearances, hardly what you'd expect after shelling out £85m for his services.

Nunez improved last season as he hit double figures for Premier League goals but, truth be told, the jury is still out on the Uruguayan, who missed a host of chances during last season's run-in as Liverpool fell out of title contention during the final few weeks of the season.

8 Gabriel Jesus

Arsenal

Gabriel Jesus was signed as the missing piece in Mikel Arteta's puzzle, and it is hard to underestimate the impact the Brazil international has had on Arsenal's incredible improvement over the last couple of years. He's had a major hand in the Gunners' rise to becoming genuine title challengers.

Unfortunately, although he is a great all-round player, Jesus just isn't prolific enough in front of goal and also has fitness problems, which is why he is not on this list. Jesus is still an asset to Arteta though, and he will no doubt have a big say in how successful they are going forward.

7 Dominic Solanke

AFC Bournemouth

After several years of struggling in the top flight, Dominic Solanke finally realised his potential and flourished in the Premier League with Bournemouth last season.

Solanke averaged a goal a game in the top flight during the 2023-24 campaign and it is that record that tempted Tottenham to come in for his services as they finally look to replace Harry Kane. Solanke is expected to complete a move to Spurs imminently, and will hope to make a greater impact in North London than he did in West London. Solanke, of course, came through the Chelsea academy but was not given much of a chance to shine for the Blues.

6 Ivan Toney

Brentford

Ivan Toney's ban from football overshadowed what was a marvellous 2022-23 season for the centre-forward, but that should not take away from his achievements. Only two players managed to bag more goals than the Brentford man in 2022-23.

Toney was the beating heart of the Bees' attacking line, scoring and bringing teammates into play in equal measure. Toney returned to football in January 2024 and scored four times for the Bees but endured a barren spell towards the end of the campaign.

5 Kai Havertz

Arsenal

Kai Havertz might be a controversial inclusion as a striker but that is where he has played for the majority of 2024, and it is a position he thrived in for Arsenal as they came within whiskers of winning the Premier League title in 2023-24.

The consensus early on last season was that Arsenal would need to sign a big-money striker this summer to give themselves the best chance of winning the league in 2024-25, but Havertz's performances in that role have seen the Gunners shelve their pursuit of a new striker, and that is a huge sign that Mikel Arteta believes Havertz can continue to shine there.

4 Ollie Watkins

Aston Villa

Aston Villa went from looking like potential relegation candidates under Steven Gerrard to playing in Europe under Unai Emery. A sensational turnaround, and one that would probably not have happened were it not for the brilliance of Ollie Watkins, who is regarded as one of the best front men in world football.

The English striker took his game to new heights in 2022-23, bagging 15 goals for the Villans and surpassing his previous best for a league campaign. He improved again in 2023-24, scoring 19 Premier League goals as Villa secured qualification for the Champions League.

3 Son Heung-min

Tottenham Hotspur

After Kane left Tottenham Hotspur for Bayern Munich, the club needed to replace him with an elite forward. Rather than find one on the transfer market, though, they looked a little closer to home and Son Heung-min moved into the role after spending the majority of his time at Spurs as a winger.

He took to the central position like a duck to water as well, relishing his chance to play down the middle. Son scored 17 times in the league, thriving under Ange Postecoglou, and it will be interesting to see where he plays this season following the arrival of Solanke from Bournemouth.

2 Alexander Isak

Newcastle United

A few eyebrows were raised when Newcastle paid a huge £63m fee for Alexander Isak, but there are not many who are doubting his quality now. The Swedish striker had an excellent first season in the English top flight, notching 10 goals and impressing with his finishing and tidy footwork, and that continued last season.

Injuries held Isak back in his first season with the Magpies but he was available for the vast majority of the 2023-24 campaign and showed his class with 21 Premier League goals for Eddie Howe's side.

1 Erling Haaland

Manchester City

He came, he saw, and he conquered. Erling Haaland broke record after record at Red Bull Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund, scoring 86 goals in 89 games for the latter, and he continued to hit landmarks in his debut season in Manchester. Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s long-standing record for most goals in a single season was blitzed by the Norwegian as he finished the 2022/23 campaign on 36.

Haaland was less impressive in his second season in Manchester but still managed to post incredible numbers, and ended the season as the Golden Boot winner for a second successive year with 27 league goals.