AS we head into another pivotal weekend of Premier League action, the value and importance of every goal is increasing exponentially. Every strike is a potentially vital one, firing a team closer to a title or a European spot or condemning them to a place in the Championship next season.

The value of a goal is incontrovertible, however, it is fair to say that, to paraphrase the Smiths, some goals are bigger than others.

So far this season, a certain lanky Norwegian has set many a goal record on fire, however, don’t worry, this isn’t going to be yet another gushing tribute to Erling Haaland and his superhuman heroics – we’ve had enough of them already. However, it would be remiss of me not to give the Norwegian goal-inator a tip of the hat on this occasion.

In terms of the value of his whopping tally of 32 goals in the Premier League this season, they have won Manchester City 22 points, a joint-high total, level with Harry Kane, who has scored nine fewer than Haaland despite also earning his side 22 points.

PFA Player of the Year

So how do we calculate all this? Well, it’s based on how many points a team would have accrued had a certain player not scored in that game at all i.e. a hat-trick in a 6-1 win gains no points, whereas one in a 1-1 gets one, two in a 2-1 gets three, two in a 2-0 gets two etc. Not too complicated, really!

Of players to net five or more goals in the English top-flight this season, only 11 have seen their goals worth a point or more on average, and what a motley crew it is. Former Chelsea and Liverpool forward, Dominic Solanke, and Manchester United’s peevish playmaker, Bruno Fernandes, lead the way with each of their respective five league goals worth a precious 1.4 points.

Of the players in double figures in the Premier League this season, it is the Red Devils’ revitalised attacker, Marcus Rashford, who has seen his 15 goals produce the most points on average (15 points in total, at an average of one point per goal).

*min 5 goals

On the other hand, a number of players have seen their respectable tallies earn their sides a big fat zero points, none more so than Leicester’s James Maddison. The highly-coveted midfielder has seen his nine goals (his second-best haul in a PL season) earn the floundering Foxes no points at all while his teammates, Kelechi Iheanacho and Patson Daka, also feature highly in this dubious ranking. That’s what you get for scoring and not winning, I guess!

Indeed, England schemer, Maddison, is now just two goals off equalling the record for most worthless goals in a Premier League season, a record new Leicester boss, Dean Smith, won’t want broken by his star man. Tore Andre Flo, the second lanky Norwegian to get a mention here, holds the record, via his 11 goals for Chelsea in 1997-98, which actually made him the Blues’ joint-top-scorer in the league that season (level with Gianluca Vialli).

As for Haaland and Kane, they both look set to finish the season with sufficient points won via their goals to claim their place among the top earners in Premier League history. Indeed, Haaland has already won his side more points than other City player in a season in the history of the competition.

Let’s not ignore James Beattie’s elevated status here, which certainly deserves a mention. The former England hitman netted an impressive 23 of Southampton’s 43 goals in the 2002-03 Premier League campaign, a haul bettered only by the far more acclaimed superstars, Ruud van Nistelrooij and Thierry Henry. Still, Beattie’s tally earned Southampton a whopping 27 points, contributing to an eighth-placed finish in the table, at the time their best top-flight finish in 13 seasons.

Overall, it’s no surprise to see Alan Shearer at the top of the listings for most points won for teams in the Premier League, with the Southampton, Blackburn and Newcastle legend’s all-time-high 260 goals equating to a mighty 182 points.

However, Harry Kane is closing in fast on his England striking predecessor, with the Three Lions all-time top-scorer’s domestic goal-getting racking up 130 points (all for Spurs) in the Premier League so far. Mr. Haaland has a fair way to go to catchup with that!

Finally, spare a thought, by the way, for ex-Everton and Nottingham Forest midfielder, Scott Gemmill, who, despite netting eight goals in his Premier League career, saw none of those strikes earn his side a point, the most of anyone in the competition’s history. At least James Maddison, whatever he does for the rest of this season, has picked up points with his goals in campaigns past and won’t find himself on this rather undesirable list.

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