Getting an assist is not always something that brings quite as much credit as scoring a goal, but often the player with the assist can be more important than the goal scorer. So who is the player with the most Premier League assists?
Who has the most Premier League assists? Ryan Giggs has the most Premier League assists all time with 162, 51 more than Cesc Fabregas who is in second place.
The Premier League has featured some brilliant facilitators, however only one of them can have the highest number of assists in the Premier League. At the time of writing, Ryan Giggs is by far the league’s leader in assists. This is hardly surprising when you consider two major factors: longevity and creativity
List of all time Premier League Assists
| Rank | Player | Main Club | Nationality | Assists |
| 1 | Ryan Giggs | Manchester Utd | Wales | 162 |
| 2 | Cesc Fàbregas | Arsenal | Spain | 111 |
| 3 | Wayne Rooney | Manchester Utd | England | 103 |
| 4 | Frank Lampard | Chelsea | England | 102 |
| 5 | Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | Belgium | 95 |
| 6 | Dennis Bergkamp | Arsenal | Netherlands | 94 |
| 7 | David Silva | Manchester City | Spain | 93 |
| 8 | Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | England | 92 |
| 9 | James Milner | Liverpool | England | 87 |
| 10 | David Beckham | Manchester Utd | England | 80 |
| 11 | Teddy Sheringham | Tottenham | England | 76 |
| 12 | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | France | 74 |
| 13 | Andrew Cole | Manchester Utd | England | 73 |
| 14 | Christian Eriksen | Tottenham | Denmark | 72 |
| 15 | Ashley Young | Aston Villa | England | 71 |
| 16 | Darren Anderton | Tottenham | England | 68 |
| 17 | Gareth Barry | Manchester City | England | 64 |
| 17 | Alan Shearer | Newcastle | England | 64 |
| 19 | Matthew Le Tissier | Southampton | England | 63 |
| 20 | Nolberto Solano | Newcastle | Peru | 62 |
In terms of longevity, Giggs had a 24-year career with Manchester United, playing 963 times for the club and featuring in countless successes for the team. That huge longevity means he is also second all-time in terms of appearances with 632 in the Premier League. However, other players have played nearly as many games as Giggs and do not have similar assist numbers.
Giggs was a very good creator in his career, playing the majority of his career on the wing for Manchester United. Giggs played with a lot of exceptional attackers and so it meant there was almost always a finishing touch to his play in the midfield. Giggs’s assist record was helped by guys like Wayne Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole and Cristiano Ronaldo. There were a lot of guys who made things easier for Giggs when it came to racking up assists.
It seems unlikely that any player will be able to get close to that record in the near future. Unsurprisingly, Kevin de Bruyne is the most likely candidate to overtake Giggs’ record. However, he is still 67 assists behind Giggs at the time of writing. It would take a lot for de Bruyne to get close to that record considering he is 31 already.
One of the players who could trouble Giggs’ record is actually Trent Alexander-Arnold. The 24-year-old already has 45 assists in the Premier League and if he does not leave Liverpool, Trent could challenge Giggs for that record.
Who has the most Premier League assists in 2022/23
At the time of writing, Kevin de Bruyne leads the Premier League in assists with nine. The Belgian has enjoyed a brilliant start to the season and is also benefiting from Erling Haaland finishing almost all of the chances that he is creating. It seems unlikely anyone else will be able to stop that connection.
Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka is the player closest to De Bruyne as he is currently on six assists. Saka is another creator benefitting from having a star striker upfront who is finishing a lot of the chances he is creating.
Defender with most Premier League assists in history
The answer for the defender with the most Premier League assists is a record that is likely to change considering the pace that Trent Alexander-Arnold is going at the moment. However, he is still currently not the defender with the most Premier League assists in history.
Ashley Young is considered the defender with the most Premier League assists according to the Premier League. Young has been a constant creative force down the wings and was brilliant in the Premier League during his time with Aston Villa. Young also has a huge amount of longevity, still currently playing in the Premier League at the age of 37.
However, Young has not been a defender his entire career. When he was coming through the ranks with Aston Villa, Young mainly played out wide but in midfield and sometimes even upfront. It is really only since he has passed the age of 30 that Young has become more of a defender, with the majority of his assists coming when he was not a defender.
The defender with the most assists in Premier League history would likely currently be tied between Leighton Baines and Andy Robertson, who are both tied on 53 at the moment. However, it seems likely that Robertson will overtake Baines as he is still playing while Baines retires in 2020.
Robertson has played at left back the entire time he has played in the Premier League and so it is much easier to consider him the defender with the most Premier League assists in history as Young played the majority of his career in front of the defence.
Most assists in Premier League 2021/22
Mo Salah finished the 2021/22 season leading the league in assists with 13. It was the first time that Salah led the league in assists and so it was also the first time that Salah won the Premier League Playmaker of the Season award. It was a brilliant achievement and Salah became part of a select group to finish a Premier League season leading the league in both goals and assists.
His rivals were not very far behind him, with teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold finishing the season on 12 assists, just one behind Salah. There were four players tied for second on 10 assists, but no one could catch Salah and he finished with the most assists in the 2021/22 Premier League season.
Most assists in Premier League 2020/21
Tottenham striker Harry Kane finished with the most assists at the end of the 2020/21 season with 14. Kane had a phenomenal season in 2020/21, finishing with 23 goals which was also the most in the Premier League and so Kane won the Premier League Golden Boot and the Premier League Playmaker of the Season awards in the same year.
His partnership with Son Heung-Min was crucial to that success and that is part of why he finished with the most assists. There was a two-way tie for second in assists, with Bruno Fernandes and Kevin De Bruyne both finishing the season with 12 assists. Kanes’ Tottenham teammate finished with 10 assists, putting him in joint fourth alongside Jack Grealish.