Amazing Premier League records that may never be beaten

Adrian Kajumba looks at some of the all-time Premier League records that will be tough to beat.

Chelsea’s goals-conceded record

Liverpool's three concessions at Tottenham Hotspur, in their otherwise impressive 6-3 win, means Chelsea’s remarkable record of conceding just 15 Premier League goals in 2004/05 is safe for another season.

Chelsea's title success in that season was built on the foundations of a rock-solid defence. 

Goalkeeper Petr Cech, defenders Paulo Ferreira, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and William Gallas were the mainstays of that stingy Chelsea backline.

In front of them they had the added protection of one of football’s great defensive midfielders Claude Makelele.

By conceding only 15 league goals, Jose Mourinho’s side beat the record of 17 set by Arsenal in 1998/99.

Since then, Chelsea themselves in 2005/06, Manchester United in 2007/08, and Liverpool in 2018/19 have got closest to the record by conceding just 22 goals.

Chelsea set another current Premier League record in 2004/05, by keeping 25 clean sheets - one more than Man Utd achieved in 1994/95.

The Red Devils went close to regaining it in 2008/09 when they kept 24 clean sheets again.

Most clean sheets in a PL season

Alan Shearer’s goalscoring record 

Having played in the Premier League from the first season in 1992/93 until his retirement in 2006, Alan Shearer led the way when it came to goalscoring.

And despite a whole host of top strikers also gracing the competition over the years, nobody has managed to match his final total of 260 goals in the competition.

Harry Kane is currently second on the list after scoring 213 Tottenham Hotspur goals. He was on course to break Shearer’s record before joining Bayern Munich in 2023.

Kane pushed Wayne Rooney, with 208 goals, down to third spot. Andrew Cole on 187 and Sergio Aguero on 184 complete the top five.

Manchester City star Erling Haaland is a significant 184 goals short of Shearer’s tally, with his 76 from 82 games.

However, until his recent slump in form, Haaland was scoring at a rate of nearly one goal per game. If he can return to that rate and remain in England long enough, the Norwegian could threaten Shearer’s record.

Gareth Barry’s appearances record 

Gareth Barry leads the way for appearances, a position he has held since breaking Ryan Giggs’ record at the time of 632 in September 2017. Former midfielder Barry went on to extend the record to 653.

Brighton’s James Milner is the only currently active player within sight of Barry, now sitting on 637 appearances. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard is the only other player to break the 600-appearances barrier, ending his career on 609.

All four made their debuts as teenagers, played in at least 20 Premier League campaigns and a minimum average of 24 league games per season.

Those common factors point to the sort of longevity and durability any future challengers will need to get near Barry’s all-time record.

Arsenal unbeaten for a whole season

In September 2002, Arsene Wenger was mocked for claiming his Arsenal side could go a whole season undefeated. 

The following campaign, he had the last laugh when they did just that, becoming the first and only side in Premier League history to achieve the feat.

"I always had that dream and to fulfil it is absolutely marvellous," manager Wenger said, after Arsenal completed their title-winning, 2003/04 Invincibles campaign, finishing with 24 wins and 12 draws.

Wenger’s long-time rival Sir Alex Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles with  but put Arsenal’s achievement on a pedestal, describing it as one “stands above everything else.” 

The failure of any team to match it since underlines that but two have come narrowly close.

Chelsea, in 2004/05, and Liverpool in 2018/19, ended their campaigns suffering just one league defeat.

Man Utd’s consecutive clean sheets

From 15 November 2008 to 18 February 2009, United did not concede a single Premier League goal. 

Their incredible run of consecutive clean sheets had lasted 14 matches before goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was finally beaten by Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz in a 2-1 Man Utd win. 

Along the way, a United defence that also included the formidable centre-back paring of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic passed Chelsea’s previous best of 10 successive shutouts set in 2004/05.

Arsenal in 1997/98, Liverpool in 2005/06, and Chelsea in 2006/07 all racked up eight consecutive clean sheets.

Most consecutive clean sheets

Arsenal scoring in consecutive matches

Before Arsenal most famously went a whole season undefeated and on the Premier League’s longest unbeaten streak of 49 matches, they put together another remarkable run of consistency.

From 19 May 2001 to 30 November 2002, Arsenal scored in every Premier League match. 

The run by Wenger’s side spanned 55 matches and also contained a record of scoring in 27 successive away games.

When Arsenal’s run of 55 matches ended, it was significantly longer than the previous best scoring streak, which was Liverpool’s 25 matches from March to December 2001. 

Tottenham Hotspur now sit second on the list after netting in 39 consecutive matches between March 2023 and March 2024.

Man Utd have the next best record for scoring in consecutive away matches with 24 from April 2001 to August 2002. 

Longest consecutive scoring streaks - home and away

Longest consecutive scoring streaks - away only

Chelsea’s unbeaten home run 

For over four years and under four different managers, nobody could get the better of Chelsea at home in the Premier League.

Their unbeaten run started on 20 March 2004 with a 2-1 win over Fulham and finally ended on 26 October 2008 with a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool. 

It lasted 86 matches, with Jose Mourinho overseeing most of them (60).

He said: "There are some records that you look at and feel that it is impossible for somebody to do it. Our record from Chelsea is still the record and it is very difficult for somebody to do better than that."

Mourinho was speaking after Liverpool came up short in January 2021, when their bid to match Chelsea was halted by a shock 1-0 home defeat to Burnley. 

Liverpool’s run, which began in May 2017, lasted 68 matches. Man City have the third longest streak of 37 matches from December 2010 to December 2012.

Chelsea's 86 unbeaten home matches, 2004-2008

Highest scoring match 

Portsmouth and Reading set a new Premier League high when they went goal crazy at Fratton Park in September 2007. The hosts won 7-4. 

This historic encounter, in which Pompey striker Benjani netted a hat-trick, remains the only time there have been 11 goals scored in a Premier League match. 

The two clubs combined to beat the previous best of nine goals, a figure that has now been reached on 24 different occasions in Premier League history.

Since Portsmouth and Reading raised the bar to 11, there have been five matches in which 10 goals were scored.

The most recent of those occasions was over a decade ago, in May 2013, when West Bromwich Albion drew 5-5 at home to Man Utd in the final match of Sir Alex Ferguson’s long managerial reign. 

Man City’s Centurions 

Man City had already been champions for a month when they visited Southampton on the final day of the 2017/18 season.

But there were still wild Man City celebrations when Gabriel Jesus lobbed in a stoppage-time winner because that goal made history.

It took Man City to 100 points, a landmark no other top-flight team has ever matched. The previous best before that was Chelsea’s 95 points in 2004/05. 

Since City became Centurions, Liverpool won the league with 99 points in 2019/20 and Man City fell just short of their previous record when they retained the title in 2018/19 with 98 points.

Also in 2018/19, runners-up Liverpool finished with 97 points - the highest total of a team not to be crowned top-flight champions.