The best partnerships in the Premier League, by chances created, have been revealed - and Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland are not on top.
The two players combined regularly throughout the 2022/23 season, helping City to win their third consecutive Premier League title en route to a first treble in the club's history.
De Bruyne created a total of 26 chances for Haaland, out of a total of 32 chances directly involving the pair. And with the Norwegian forward going on to win the division's Golden Boot by scoring a Premier League record of 36, the influence of De Bruyne is very much clear.
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Speaking earlier this season, Arsenal legend Martin Keown called the pairing the greatest duo the Premier League has ever seen.
He told talkSPORT: "I thought Bergkamp and Henry was one hell of a partnership for Arsenal back in the day, but in De Bruyne and Haaland, I think maybe it's gone to another level."
But despite their crucial importance to City's successful treble bid, De Bruyne and Haaland did not come out on top in the ranking of the division's best partnerships in 2022/23.
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The Premier League's best partnerships 2022/23 revealed
The City pairing are only third on a list, posted by Opta, of the division's top duos for the most recent campaign.
De Bruyne did, however, create more chances for Haaland then Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard did for team-mate Bukayo Saka (20). The Gunners finished second behind City in the Premier League last season.
In second place on the list are Newcastle's Kieran Trippier and Fabian Schar, with the Magpies right-back creating 27 chances for the Switzerland centre-back over the course of the campaign - simply underlining his attacking ability.
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But the most effective partnership in the division, as per this metric, is that of Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford.
Fernandes created a huge 36 chances for Rashford over the season, and features on the ranking twice due to his partnership with Antony.
The full list is as follows:
- 7. Morgan Gibbs-White to Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest) - 20 chances created
- 6. Bruno Fernandes to Antony (Manchester United) - 20
- 5. Martin Odegaard to Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) - 20
- 4. Andreas Pereira to Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) - 23
- 3. Kevin De Bruyne to Erling Haaland (Manchester City) - 26
- 2. Kieran Trippier to Fabian Schar (Newcastle) - 27
- 1. Bruno Fernandes to Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) - 36
Topics: Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Premier League, Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United, Manchester City
Ryan Smart