Premier League’s greatest strike partnerships: As Gabriel Jesus forms a lethal link-up with Sergio Aguero, we look at classic duos like Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole
Our friends at Football Whispers compare the Man City sharpshooters to classic top-flight pairings
WHEN Manchester City signed Gabriel Jesus, it felt like it could signal the end of Sergio Aguero’s time at the Etihad Stadium.
The striker is a City legend, but he had been dropped by Pep Guardiola for a few big games, including Barcelona away in the Champions League.
Yet, this season, despite Jesus starting, Aguero hasn’t been on the bench, but has played alongside him up front.
Our friends at Football Whispers look at how they compare to other legendary Premier League striking partnerships.
The South American duo undoubtedly have the potential to take the Premier League by storm, and have already got five league goals between them so far this season.
They both have great goalscoring records in the light blue of City, with Jesus averaging a goal every 99 minutes since his move to England, while Aguero’s record stands at one every 110 minutes.
They have the potential to be up there with the best strike partnerships.
But with less than a season to their name playing together, they have a long way to go to be up there with these great duos in Premier League history.
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Chris Sutton & Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers)
The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer found a deadly partner in Chris Sutton at Blackburn, with the two so dangerous in front of goal they were dubbed the “SAS”.
They brought the Premier League title to Ewood Park in 1995, scoring 49 goals between them.
Shearer was dynamic, good in the air and on the ground, while Sutton was the ideal link man to get the best out of him.
It was short lived though, with Sutton injured for much of the following season before Shearer joined his hometown club, Newcastle United.
Luis Suarez & Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool)
There’s obviously something about strikers beginning with S that means they like to link up – Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge were the modern-day SAS at Liverpool.
They scored 52 goals between them as the Reds destroyed defences as Brendan Rodgers’ side fell just short of the title in 2013/14.
Captain Steven Gerrard claimed the two were rivals, writing in his autobiography, My Story: "There was always a little bit of needling rivalry between Sturridge and Suarez."
Suarez was inspired at Liverpool and went on to Barcelona, where he was part of an even better front line - the MSN - him, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Sturridge hasn’t quite been the same since the Uruguayan’s departure, and has been struck by injuries in recent years.
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Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink & Eidur Gudjohnsen (Chelsea)
Chelsea’s best striking partnership of the Premier League era probably came before Roman Abramovich’s arrival in West London.
Opposites attracted as Eidur Gudjohnsen’s technical ability complemented Hasselbaink’s goalscoring prowess.
“Eidur could do things that I couldn’t do, and I could do things that he could not do,” Hasselbaink said.
“Eidur is a player on the ball. Turning out, passing; always finding a pass. He was always reading the game. He needed a player, like me, to make space for him. He was always two steps ahead.
“I needed an Eidur. I was not a technical player. I needed someone like that, I knew how to make runs and find a little bit of space. I needed to face the goal.”
The duo’s best season for Chelsea was the 2001/02 campaign, where the Dutchman finished with 23 and the Icelandic international scored 14.
Niall Quinn & Kevin Phillips (Sunderland)
The little and large duo of Kevin Phillips and Kevin Quinn is a classic Premier League partnership.
After Sunderland’s promotion to the Premier League in 1999, they took England’s top flight by storm, finishing seventh.
That was largely down to Phillips and Quinn, who scored 44 goals between them.
Phillips scored 30, winning not only the Premier League Golden Boot, but the European Golden Shoe. And so far he’s the only ever Englishman to do that.
Dwight Yorke & Andy Cole (Manchester United)
Arguably the greatest partnership ever, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole coming together was not even meant to happen.
Cole was Sir Alex Ferguson’s fourth choice to partner Yorke, after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Teddy Sheringham and Patrick Kluivert.
Yet the pair had an instant chemistry that no-one expected, scoring 53 goals between them in the 1998/99 season and having what appeared to be a telepathic connection.
Of the 36 games they started that season, Manchester United lost just one and scored 81 goals, as they won the treble.
They scored 56 goals the following season, before Ruud van Nistelrooy arrived to split up the pair.
They did link up at Blackburn Rovers later on in their careers, but it wasn’t quite the same.
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