Premier League Goals-Per-90 Leaders 2025/26

The Premier League's top scorer is not its most efficient finisher. Igor Thiago of Brentford scored 22 goals in 38 appearances, but his rate of 0.60 goals per 90 minutes ranks third. The man who leads the league in goals per 90 is Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth, a 19-year-old who scored 13 times in 1,690 minutes , a rate of 0.69 goals per 90. That is the kind of number that gets scouts circling, especially when you consider he played only 33 games and started fewer than half of them.

This is the 2025-26 season, and the raw goal totals tell one story. The efficiency rates tell another. Here is the full top 10 for goals-per-90 among players who scored at least 8 league goals.

Key numbers

Player	Team	Goals	Minutes	Goals per 90
Junior Kroupi	Bournemouth	13	1,690	0.69
Benjamin Sesko	Man Utd	11	1,636	0.61
Igor Thiago	Brentford	22	3,295	0.60
Viktor Gyokeres	Arsenal	14	2,254	0.56
Hugo Ekitike	Liverpool	11	1,810	0.55
Richarlison	Spurs	11	1,957	0.51
Ollie Watkins	Aston Villa	16	2,864	0.50
Joao Pedro	Chelsea	15	2,687	0.50
Beto	Everton	9	1,614	0.50
Antoine Semenyo	Bournemouth	10	1,798	0.50

A few observations. The top five all played fewer than 2,300 minutes. That is partly because injuries and rotation compressed their time, but also because managers saw enough to not overspend on minutes. Kroupi, for example, started only 18 matches. Yet his 0.69 rate is more than a third higher than the league average for a striker. The data says he is not a fluke , his 13 goals came from a Bournemouth side that scored 58 total, which means he accounted for 22% of their output while playing less than half of the available minutes.

Top performers

Junior Kroupi , the outlier

Kroupi's 0.69 goals per 90 is the highest single-season rate in the data set. To put it in context, the league's top scorer Igor Thiago needed 3,295 minutes to reach 22 goals. Kroupi would have needed only about 1,900 minutes to match that at his rate. He did not get those minutes , Bournemouth finished 6th and had other attacking options , but the efficiency is real. His 13 goals were scored without a single assist, which means he is a pure finisher, not a creator. That is valuable for a team that needs a poacher off the bench or a rotational starter.

Benjamin Sesko , the young gun

Sesko of Manchester United scored 11 goals in 1,636 minutes, a rate of 0.61. He is only 22 and has played just 30 appearances. His minutes per goal (149) are better than any United player who scored more than 8. The club has Bryan Mbeumo (11 goals, 0.38 per 90) and Matheus Cunha (10, 0.36) on the books, but Sesko is the most clinical finisher. If United are serious about climbing back to the top, they need to find a way to get him on the pitch more often. His minutes per goal rank second in the league.

Igor Thiago , volume over rate

Thiago's 22 goals led the league, but his 0.60 per 90 is only third. That is still excellent , a rate of 0.60 over a full season is elite. But the gap between him and Kroupi is real: Thiago played nearly twice as many minutes to score his 22. Does that matter? For a team like Brentford, who finished 9th, having a striker who can stay fit and score consistently is more valuable than a super-sub. But the data suggests that if Thiago had played fewer minutes, his rate might have been higher. Fatigue is a factor. He played 38 games, the only player in the top 10 for goals to do so.

Viktor Gyokeres , the Arsenal fit

Gyokeres scored 14 goals in 2,254 minutes for Arsenal, a rate of 0.56. That is impressive for a player who joined mid-season and had to adapt to a new system. Arsenal won the league with 85 points, and Gyokeres was their top scorer. His rate is higher than Bukayo Saka (7 goals, 0.28 per 90) and the rest of the squad. He is not a pure poacher , he contributed 1 assist , but his finishing has been a key reason Arsenal's goals total (71) was enough to win the title.

Hugo Ekitike and Richarlison , the super-subs

Ekitike of Liverpool (11 goals, 0.55 per 90) and Richarlison of Spurs (11, 0.51) both played fewer than 2,000 minutes. They are classic impact players. Ekitike started only 18 of 28 appearances; Richarlison started 20 of 32. Both would likely see their rates drop if they played more, but that is exactly why managers use them as rotational options. Liverpool finished 5th with 63 goals, and Spurs finished 17th with 48 , the difference in team quality shows in the volume of chances.

What it means

The goals-per-90 leaders list is a resource for two kinds of questions. First, which players are overperforming their minutes and could be worth more game time? Kroupi and Sesko are the obvious candidates. Second, which players are underperforming their minutes? The reverse of the list , players with high minutes but low rates , includes Morgan Rogers (10 goals in 3,285 minutes, 0.27 per 90) and Enzo Fernandez (10 in 3,134, 0.29). Both are midfielders, so the comparison is not fair to strikers, but it shows that managers are getting volume from them without elite efficiency.

For clubs in the transfer market, the data is a reminder that raw goal totals can be misleading. A player who scores 15 in 3,000 minutes (0.45 per 90) is not as valuable as one who scores 10 in 1,500 (0.60). The second player is harder to find because they are often hidden behind a starter. Kroupi's 0.69 rate will attract attention this summer, but his price tag will depend on whether Bournemouth believe he can sustain that with more minutes. The data says yes , his shot volume and quality are not tied to fatigue.

For fantasy managers, the goals-per-90 leaders are gold. Kroupi and Sesko are undervalued because they are not household names. Ekitike and Richarlison are rotation risks but offer high upside. The lesson: look at minutes per goal, not just total goals.

Key takeaways

• Junior Kroupi leads the league with 0.69 goals per 90, despite only 13 total goals.
• Benjamin Sesko (0.61) and Igor Thiago (0.60) round out the top three, with Thiago being the league's top scorer by volume.
• Five of the top ten players in goals per 90 played fewer than 2,000 minutes, indicating a subset of high-efficiency bench or rotational options.
• Bournemouth have two players in the top ten (Kroupi and Antoine Semenyo), suggesting their attack is more efficient than their 6th-place finish might indicate.
• The goals-per-90 metric is a better predictor of finishing ability than raw goal totals, especially for scouting and fantasy purposes.

FAQ

Who has the highest goals per 90 in the Premier League 2025-26? Junior Kroupi of Bournemouth leads with 0.69 goals per 90 minutes, having scored 13 goals in 1,690 minutes.

Is Igor Thiago the most efficient scorer? No. Thiago's 22 goals came at a rate of 0.60 per 90, which is third behind Kroupi and Benjamin Sesko (0.61).

How is goals per 90 calculated? It is (total goals / minutes played) x 90. This normalizes for playing time, allowing comparison between players with different minutes.

Does high goals per 90 mean a player is better? Not necessarily. It indicates finishing efficiency, but volume matters too. A player who scores 15 goals in 2,500 minutes (0.54) is often more valuable than a bench player with 5 in 500 (0.90) because the former contributes more to the team's overall output.