The Analyst: Burnley head the headers charts, while Benteke is head and shoulders above his rivals

Cameron Loftus
3 December 2021

Christian Benteke celebration Crystal Palace vs Newcastle Oct21

The Clarets are only two short of their headed goal output for the whole of last season, while Benteke has the most headed goals in the Premier League.

Heading is seen as an art by many and the league has witnessed a long list of players with stunning aerial prowess. Peter Crouch, Tim Cahill, Olivier Giroud and Andy Carroll are a few that spring to mind when you think of prolific headers of a ball.

This season, almost 14% of goals have been scored via headers, a drop from 16.6% in 2020/21.

That makes it all the more crucial to spot when and where they might occur and from who. Planet Sport crunches the stats.

Which team has scored the most headers?

Burnley have scored the most headed goals this season with six and are only two shy of their tally for the whole of last season.

It means of their 14 goals to date, almost half have come via headers.

Captain Ben Mee leads the way with goals from headers against Everton and Crystal Palace. Maxwel Cornet, Matthew Lowton, James Tarkowski and Chris Wood complete the six.

New Zealand international Wood has actually scored 17 of his 50 Premier League goals (34%) via this source, no surprise given the way Burnley like to play.

Which current players have scored the most headers?

There is a common theme among the top five in this list: they're all strikers.

Christian Benteke has a seven-goal advantage over second-placed Harry Kane in the standings, highlighting just how clinical the Belgium international is in the air.

He has 33 Premier League headed goals to his name and sits seven behind all-time leader Crouch in the standings.

Just one of his four this season has come from this source and he missed a clear-cut chance against Leeds to put Crystal Palace 1-0 up last time out. It proved pivotal as a late Raphinha penalty won the game for the visitors.

Benteke's aerial ability has been there for all to see for almost ten years in England. He finished the 2013/14 season with the most headed goals while at Aston Villa. Of his 10 league goal scored that campaign, seven were scored with his head.

He has also finished second in the headed league goals charts on three occasions, underlining his consistency.

Kane (26), Romelu Lukaku (23) and Michail Antonio (20) and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (18) are the next best and it is Lukaku and Antonio who represent a betting opportunity in the coming weeks.

Lukaku has been used from the bench in Chelsea's last two games but could start for the first time since matchday eight when the Blues travel to West Ham on Saturday.

Chelsea boast the second-best heading record in the Premier League this campaign having scored five headers, while West Ham are only one behind.

The Hammers have a number of aerial threats with Craig Dawson and Tomas Soucek in addition to Antonio and this was illustrated again on Wednesday night when Soucek nodded them in front against Brighton. It was his sixth headed goal since arriving at the club in January 2019.

Antonio managed 13 headed goals across the 2015/16 and 2016/17 seasons but has yet to register with his head this campaign.

Which player has scored the most headers this season?

Callum Wilson, Newcastle United, Premier League

Newcastle's Callum Wilson leads the way with headers making up three of his five goals. His headed goals have come against West Ham, Southampton and Tottenham.

Newcastle's percentage of headed goals this season remains well above the league average, with five of their 16 goals having come from this source.

However, with new boss Eddie Howe looking to play a more expansive form of soccer, this is likely to dip.

Of the other Premier League players to have scored more than one headed goal, two, Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane, play for Liverpool. Chelsea's Kai Havertz and the aforementioned Mee are the other players to have notched two with their head.