Feature

Who is the best: Kane, Shearer or Rooney?

6 Feb 2023

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We take a look at how the three "200 club" members reached their bicentenary of goals

In scoring the only goal to beat Manchester City on Sunday, Harry Kane became the third player to net 200 goals in Premier League history. But how does he compare to the two others, Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney?

We take a closer look at the three players’ scoring records, analyse how they scored them, how often they got them and ask you to let us know who you think is the best.

Shearer/Rooney/Kane comparison

Stat	Shearer	Rooney	Kane
Matches	441	491	304
Goals	260	208	200
Mins/ Goal	146.9	182.8	127.5
Penalty goals	56 (21.5%)	23 (11.1%)	30 (15.0%)
Left foot	20 (7.7%)	26 (12.5%)	40 (20.0%)
Right foot	194 (74.6%)	160 (76.9%)	121 (60.5%)
Head	46 (17.7%)	22 (10.6%)	37 (18.5%)
Outside box	35 (13.5%)	29 (13.9%)	24 (12.0%)
Inside box	225 (86.5%)	179 (86.1%)	176 (88.0%)
Hat-tricks	11	7	8
Assists	64	103	44
Assists/ match	0.15	0.21	0.14

Kane the most efficient

Kane is the leader for minutes per goal, taking 127.5 minutes for each of his goals, while Shearer required another 20 minutes and Rooney another 75.

When compared with Shearer, Kane also has not had the same opportunities to score from the penalty spot as the Newcastle United legend, for whom 56 of his record 260 goals were penalties.

But Rooney had even a lower ratio than Kane.

See: Oracle breaks down Kane's 200 goals

The Tottenham Hotspur striker has shown greater versatility in which part of his body has been used to score his 200 goals.

Some 61 per cent have come via Kane’s stronger right foot, much lower than Shearer’s 75 per cent and Rooney’s 77 per cent.

Interestingly, despite there being fewer crosses in modern Premier League football than in the early days of the competition, a higher proportion of Kane’s goals have come from his head than Shearer and Rooney. (N.B. two of Kane’s goals have come off "other" parts of his body).

All three are similar in terms of how their goals are distributed between those scored from outside the penalty and from inside.

Where Rooney excels, is in his ability to create chances for team-mates to score. His 103 assists are almost half his total of goals scored and were supplied at a rate of one every five matches.

Kane has a similar rate of about one assist in every seven matches to Shearer.

While it appears inevitable he will surpass Rooney, should Kane then overtake Shearer, it will raise the question as to whether he is the Premier League's greatest forward.