There are some major and some not-so-major Premier League records that could tumble in 2024-25. Below, we’ve highlighted nine worth keeping an eye on.
Most Premier League Appearances and Seasons Played in
James Milner has very nearly done it all. And this season, he might complete football.
OK, not quite, but he will break one more record and he also has a very good chance of moving to the top of another very significant one.
With his first appearance of 2024-25, Milner will move clear of Ryan Giggs at the top of the list for the most different Premier League seasons played in. This will be the Brighton man’s 23rd Premier League campaign, with Giggs (22), Gareth Barry (21), Rio Ferdinand (20) and Frank Lampard (20) next in the list. Ashley Young and Jonny Evans – set for their 18th seasons in 2024-25 – are the closest challengers of active players.
Meanwhile, Milner surely has his eye on the Premier League all-time appearances record. He needs to play in 20 more league games to overtake Barry (653) at the top of the list, but slightly concerningly, he only made 15 appearances last term. Now 38 years old, he’ll need his new manager, Fabian Hürzeler – seven years Milner’s junior – to use him more than Roberto De Zerbi did.
Latest Premier League Goal
Seven of the 10 latest goals in Premier League history were scored last season, with the extra minutes that were being added on at the end of matches meaning more late drama than ever before. Oli McBurnie’s equaliser from the penalty spot against West Ham on 21 January was clocked at 102:07, overtaking Dirk Kuyt’s record for Liverpool against Arsenal, which had stood for almost 13 years before that.
There isn’t really any particular reason to think this season will see any goals scored later than last season, but matches should go on just as long as they did in 2023-24, so we could easily be in for more goals deep into second-half injury-time.
With the news that this season officials will be cracking down on blocking at set-pieces, we may see even more penalties than usual, so we could be in for more late penalty drama.
Speaking of penalties…
Palmer’s Perfect Penalty Record
Cole Palmer had a breakout season at Chelsea last season, and also proved himself as one of the best penalty-takers around.
He took nine spot-kicks and scored every single one, meaning he needs to score his next two to equal Yaya Touré’s record for the most penalties taken in Premier League history without missing one. Touré ended his career with an unblemished record of 11 goals from 11 penalties.
If Palmer had taken and scored all of Chelsea’s penalties last season, he would already be top of the pile, but Noni Madueke and Enzo Fernández took three between them. Unfortunately for Chelsea, the one they missed – Fernández vs West Ham – came back in August, before Palmer had signed.
The question this season is whether any goalkeeper can stop the ice-cold England midfielder.
Can Ward-Prowse Take Beckham’s Free-Kicks Crown?
David Beckham’s heir as the Premier League’s free-kick king has been waiting in the wings for a while; will 2024-25 finally see him step up?
James Ward-Prowse has become English football’s most-feared dead-ball specialist since ‘Golden Balls’ over the past decade or so, but it’s been more than a year since he last scored a free-kick (February 2023) in the Premier League.
Ward-Prowse heads into the 2024-25 campaign with 17 Premier League free-kick goals to his name, one shy of Beckham’s record. After a failing to net at all from dead balls in his maiden year with West Ham, he’ll surely find his range again over the coming months.
Haaland: The Fastest to 100 Premier League Goals?
We’d be tempted to say Erling Haaland took to the Premier League like the proverbial duck to water, only the Norwegian made a whopping great splash and has devoured virtually everyone in his wake. So, if anything, he’s probably taken to it like the legendary Scandinavian Kraken to water.
It took him just 48 matches to score 50 goals, breaking the previous record – held by Andrew Cole – by a remarkable 17 games. His next milestone is, arguably, already within reach.
With 63 Premier League goals before the opening weekend’s action, he of course needs 37 this season to reach 100 in the English top flight. To most, such a figure would be unattainable, unthinkable even. But for Haaland? Well, he scored 36 in 2022-23 – what’s stopping him going one better this season?
Even if he has to wait a little longer, Haaland’s on course to smash Alan Shearer’s record for the fewest games (124) to reach 100 Premier League goals.
The Premier League’s Youngest Permanent Manager
Ryan Mason’s record as the youngest manager in Premier League history is still safe, as he was 29 years and 312 days old when taking charge of his first Tottenham game as caretaker boss in 2021.
But, given he was only a temporary hire, new Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Fabian Hürzeler will set a new record as the youngest permanent (if we can really consider any Premier League manager/coach “permanent” these days…) manager in the competition’s history this weekend.
Hürzeler joined from St. Pauli in the summer and will be 31y, 173d old when Brighton face Everton on Saturday; not only will he be the second-youngest manager – interim or otherwise – in Premier League history, he’s also younger than five of his first-team squad.
Most Players Used in a Season
They might not be quite at ‘Nottingham Forest summer of 2022’ levels, but Chelsea have been busy in this transfer window, as they have been in every transfer window since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital purchased the club.
The signing of Pedro Neto from Wolves last week took them to 35 permanent signings since the owners arrived in May 2022, not including two loan signings and two further deals sealed for players ahead of next summer.
With all of these players, can Chelsea break the Premier League record for most players used in a season?
That record belongs to Fulham right now, who used a whopping 39 players in the 2013-14 season, ahead of Middlesbrough in second place with their 37 players used in 2005-06.
Chelsea have never used more than 32 in a Premier League season but have done so three times, including in each of the last two campaigns. With a new manager in Enzo Maresca and lots of players to keep happy, could this be the season they break the 40-player mark?
Most Consecutive Wins vs One Team
Manchester City set a new record for the most consecutive wins by one Premier League team against another when they won 1-0 at Bournemouth last season. It took them to 14 wins in a row against the Cherries.
Can Andoni Iraola’s men break that run when they host the champions at the Vitality Stadium in early November?
The record might be equalled before then, though. Chelsea have won their last 13 Premier League games against Crystal Palace and could make that 14 at Stamford Bridge at the start of September, while Man City are also on a run of 13 wins in a row against Fulham and host the Cottagers at the Etihad Stadium in early October.
Most Goals Scored by Substitutes
Last season saw the record for goals scored by substitutes in the Premier League comfortably beaten, with 159 overtaking the previous record of 132 from the season prior. It was understandable given the introduction of five substitutes being allowed from the start of the 2022-23 season, but will we see another increase in 2024-25?
What’s more, we also came very close to the record for the most substitute goals scored by one team in a single campaign (15) being broken last season, only for Newcastle (14), Brighton (13) and Chelsea (13) to just fall short.
With managers continuing to find ways to get more out of their changes, perhaps we’ll see a team go past the three joint-record holders of Arsenal (2009-10), Man City (2011-12) and Liverpool (2015-16).
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