Tottenham‘s James Maddison has become only the fifth player ever to reach a half-century of Premier League goals without scoring a header.
With his third goal of the 2024-25 season, James Maddison reached a notable landmark.
His sensational free-kick in added time during Spurs’ 4-1 win over Aston Villa was his 50th in the Premier League, making him the 137th player to reach a half-century of goals in the competition.
However, he is only fifth player in Premier League history to reach 50 goals without a single one being headed.
Of the four players who had previously made it to 50 Premier League goals without scoring a header, three went on to eventually score one after reaching their half-century. That leaves only one player who never scored a header with more Premier League goals than Maddison.
The four players who scored more than 50 goals before scoring a header are Thierry Henry, Kevin De Bruyne, Damien Duff and Peter Beardsley.
Henry had to wait until his 122nd Premier League appearance, by which time he had scored 73 Premier League goals, before scoring his first header – the second goal in a hat-trick for Arsenal against West Ham in January 2003. De Bruyne struck 67 times for Manchester City before finally scoring a headed goal against Brighton in April 2024 which, to date, remains his only headed Premier League goal. Beardsley only scored once more after reaching 50 Premier League goals before he scored a header.
Duff made it to 54 top-flight goals in England without a header before departing for Australia, making the former Blackburn, Chelsea and Fulham winger the Premier League’s highest-scoring player who hasn’t scored a single header.
Now just four goals off the lead, Maddison, 27, will have Duff’s record in his sights, although he only just beat Everton full-back Ashley Young to the 50-goal mark.
Young has been stuck on 49 Premier League goals since scoring for Aston Villa against Nottingham Forest in October 2022, yet to score a single goal for Everton. As well as none of his 49 goals being headers, only one was not scored with his right foot (48 right-footed, one left-footed).
At 39 years old, he is coming towards the end of his career, and may yet not make it to 50 Premier League goals.
Of Maddison’s 50 goals, 37 have been right-footed and 13 have been left-footed, while 31 have come from inside the box and 19 have come from outside the box. Nine of those from range have come from direct free-kicks, while two of his goals from inside the penalty area have come from the spot.
Having made it to 50, Maddison may be starting to think about his century. But if he does make it that far, will he do it without scoring a header? We’ll be watching to find out.
Enjoy this? Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You can also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
