FIVE Premier League Players Who Have Scored The Most Goals Against Their Former Clubs

With Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko returning to Manchester City on Friday night, we thought it would be interesting to see who has scored the most times versus their former clubs in the Premier League.

The players who feature high on this list are those who have played for multiple different teams in the English top flight.

Of course, the more Premier League sides you have played for, the more chances you will get to score against one of your former employers.

Press the next page as we go through the five players who have scored the most goals against their former clubs.

5) Jermain Defoe – 9

The striker played for five different Premier League teams during his long career as a player.

After starting out as a teenager at West Ham, Defoe went on to have two spells at Tottenham, as well as stints at Portsmouth, Sunderland and Bournemouth.

The England international scored 162 times in England’s top division, but only nine came against ex teams.

=2) Louis Saha – 12

The Frenchman is one of three players who is joint second on our list, having hit the back of the net twelve times when facing a former club.

Like Defoe, Saha made appearances for five Premier League sides in total, across a career that spanned 14 seasons in English football.

The forward played for the likes of Newcastle United (on loan), Fulham, Manchester United, Everton and Tottenham before moving to Lazio in 2013.

=2) Andy Cole – 12

The striker is the third-highest scorer in Premier League history and he played for no less than seven Premier League clubs.

Although he spent seven top-flight seasons with Newcastle and Manchester United, he then had brief spells at Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland.

Despite his outstanding record at club level, though, Cole only played 15 times for England, scoring once.

=2) Peter Crouch – 12

Unlike Cole and Defoe, who are in the top 10 all-time Premier League scorers, Crouch is only 28th on that list, having bagged 108.

Yet, he still managed to score the same amount against former teams, having played for the likes of Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Spurs, Stoke and Burnley.

Crouch’s aerial threat made him dangerous against any opponent but it appears he had a knack for scoring against former teams, in particular.

1) Nicolas Anelka – 18

After leaving Arsenal for Real Madrid, the Frenchman returned to England (via Paris Saint-Germain), joining Liverpool on loan in 2001. He enjoyed his time at Anfield but manager Gerard Houllier opted against signing him on a permanent basis and recruited El Hadji Diouf instead.

Anelka went on to move to Manchester City, and he came back to haunt his former team, scoring twice in a 2-1 win that ended the Reds’ hopes of Champions League qualification.

The forward also had stints with the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea and West Brom.