The Premier League is widely regarded as one of the most entertaining football divisions in the world, and a significant reason for that reputation is the volume of goals produced each season. For anyone interested in analysing match outcomes or understanding which clubs consistently generate attacking output, studying goal-scoring rates offers a genuinely useful starting point.
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What Scoring Rate Actually Means in This Context
Before examining the clubs themselves, it helps to define what “scoring rate” refers to. In this article, it means the average number of goals scored per match across a full league season. A team playing 38 games and scoring 76 goals carries an average of 2.0 goals per game — a figure that sits noticeably above the league-wide average, which typically falls between 1.35 and 1.55 goals per team per match across recent Premier League campaigns.
This metric matters because it reflects not just quality of attack but also tactical approach, fixture difficulty over a season, and the depth of a squad. It also directly informs how analysts approach markets like Over/Under goals and BTTS (Both Teams To Score), which are straightforward market categories offered across most football platforms.
The Clubs That Consistently Score at High Rates
Looking at the last five completed Premier League seasons (2019-20 through 2023-24), a clear picture emerges of which clubs sit above the league average in goals scored per game.
Manchester City have consistently led or come very close to leading this category. During the 2021-22 season, City scored 99 league goals across 38 matches — an average of 2.61 goals per game. That figure is one of the highest recorded in the modern Premier League era. Even in seasons where their total dropped, their per-game average remained above 2.0, reflecting the structured, possession-based attacking system Pep Guardiola has embedded at the club.
Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp also produced remarkable numbers. The 2019-20 title-winning season saw them average approximately 2.08 goals per game, but the 2017-18 and 2018-19 campaigns were arguably more explosive offensively, with Mohamed Salah’s influence pushing their per-match figures into elite territory. The transition period since Klopp’s departure in 2024 is worth monitoring, as squad reshaping can significantly shift a team’s attacking output.
Arsenal have shown a clear upward trajectory. The 2022-23 season saw them score 88 goals, averaging 2.32 per match — the second-highest in the division that year. In 2023-24, they again finished in the upper tier of goalscoring clubs despite falling short of the title. The attacking structure under Mikel Arteta, with players like Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard carrying significant output, has repositioned Arsenal as a high-volume attacking side after years of more conservative league seasons.
Chelsea, by contrast, present a more volatile picture. Between 2019 and 2024, their per-game scoring averages ranged from as low as 1.32 in 2022-23 to 1.63 in 2021-22. Significant squad investment has not consistently translated into high scoring rates, which makes them a more difficult club to read from a goals-volume perspective.
How Home and Away Splits Affect These Figures
One pattern that appears repeatedly in scoring-rate analysis is the home-away split. Across the five seasons reviewed, Manchester City’s home scoring average was approximately 2.9 goals per game, while their away average dropped to around 2.3 — still well above the league average but noticeably different. This kind of split is relevant when analysing individual matches rather than full-season figures.
For clubs lower in the table, this divide is often more dramatic. A club averaging 1.4 goals per game overall might score 1.8 at home and only 1.0 away. When constructing an analysis around an Over/Under market — which involves predicting whether the combined goals in a match will exceed or fall below a specific threshold — the venue of a match relative to each team’s home and away scoring trends is a meaningful variable.
The Role of Fixture Difficulty
Scoring rates can also be inflated or deflated by fixture scheduling. A team that plays a high proportion of matches against lower-half clubs in the first half of the season may carry an artificially high scoring average into the winter months. This is why analysts often look at expected goals (xG) data alongside raw scoring figures. Manchester City’s xG numbers have remained remarkably stable season-to-season, suggesting their output is rooted in system and quality rather than favorable scheduling.
What the Numbers Suggest for Match Analysis
For those using goal-scoring data to inform match analysis, a few recurring observations are worth noting.
When Manchester City host a mid-table side, the Over 2.5 goals market — which simply means three or more goals in the match — has been triggered in a high proportion of games based on historical data. Over the last three seasons combined, approximately 74% of City’s home league matches finished with three or more goals.
Arsenal’s away fixtures show a more mixed picture. Their away scoring average of around 1.9 goals per game in 2023-24 was strong, but their defensive structure away from the Emirates meant total-goals figures were sometimes lower than expected.
Liverpool’s transition phase makes their 2024-25 figures particularly interesting to track. New manager Arne Slot has shown in early-season data that the club is maintaining an above-average scoring rate, though the style has shifted compared to Klopp’s high-tempo pressing approach.
The BTTS market — where the question is simply whether both clubs score in a given match — tends to be relevant in matches involving two of the high-scoring clubs. Historically, fixtures between Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool have had a higher-than-average BTTS rate, though defensive quality from all three clubs means this is far from automatic.
Tracking These Figures Through the Season
Scoring rates are not static. They shift based on injuries, suspensions, tactical adjustments, and the quality of opposition faced in any given run of fixtures. Monitoring a team’s last ten or fifteen matches — rather than the full-season figure — often gives a more accurate picture of their current attacking momentum.
Publicly available data from sources like Fbref, Transfermarkt, and the official Premier League statistics pages provide regularly updated per-game scoring averages. Tracking these figures as the season progresses allows for more grounded, evidence-based match analysis rather than relying on assumptions about a club’s historical identity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Premier League club has scored the most goals per game over the last five seasons?
Manchester City consistently lead this category. Their 2021-22 season produced an average of 2.61 goals per game across 38 league matches, which is among the highest figures recorded in the modern Premier League era.
How does the Over/Under goals market relate to team scoring rates?
The Over/Under market is a standard market type where analysts assess whether a match will produce more or fewer goals than a set threshold. Team scoring rates provide one key data point for forming a view on this market, alongside defensive statistics and head-to-head records.
Why do home and away scoring averages differ so significantly for most clubs?
Familiarity with the stadium environment, crowd support, and the tendency of opponents to sit deeper away from home all contribute to clubs typically scoring more in home fixtures. This is a consistent pattern across most of European football, not just the Premier League.
Does a high scoring rate always mean a team is performing well?
Not necessarily. A team might score frequently but also concede heavily, which can mask defensive vulnerabilities. Scoring rate is one useful metric among several, and it should be read alongside defensive data for a complete picture of a team’s overall form.
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