Sergio Aguero scored his 11th Premier League hat-trick on Sunday - but how does he compare to the other great strikers to have graced the division?
The hat-trick is a hallmark of every great striker and there's certainly been no shortage of those to grace the Premier League since it's formation in 1992.
Eric Cantona bagged the competition's first - and his only one - for Leeds in August '92 while just over a year later Alan Shearer got his account up and running at Blackburn.
His 11th and final hat-trick came as a Newcastle player in September 1999 as the Magpies thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 8-0, and it's taken over 19 years for another striker to level this tally.
Sergio Aguero, who bagged his first hat-trick ball in September 2011 against Wigan, became the second man since the England legend to reach double figures in Manchester City's 3-1 win over Arsenal and just seven days later he moved alongside Shearer thanks to another treble during Sunday's 6-0 demolition against Chelsea.
Incredibly, Aguero has managed six since the start of the 2017/18 season which represents 35% of the 17 total hat-tricks scored in the Premier League in that same time period. Five of those six have come in his last 30 appearances in the competition and since the start of 2018.
Although Shearer played 441 games by the time he retired, it's interesting to note that he actually scored his 11th hat-trick in his 223rd appearance whereas Aguero's came in his 229th! It's fair to say that Shearer wasn't playing in title-chasing campaigns for the last chunk of his career and wasn't blessed with the same quality of service that Aguero has either!
In terms of ratios, Aguero is being pushed hard by Tottenham's Harry Kane, who has managed eight in just 175 so it shouldn't be too long before he joins the leading duo on double figures.
Kane's first came against Leicester back in March 2015 but his insane purple patch came in a record-breaking 2017 when he bagged six in the calendar year.
Before we look at the following stats and charts from Opta, just bare in mind that Cristiano Ronaldo has managed 35 hat-tricks in 536 career league games and Lionel Messi has 31 in 439.
Top Premier League hat-trick scorers
- Alan Shearer 11
- Sergio Aguero 11
- Robbie Fowler 9
- Thierry Henry 8
- Michael Owen 8
- Harry Kane 8
- Wayne Rooney 7
- Luis Suárez 6
Premier League hat-tricks at a single club
- Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - 11
- Alan Shearer (Blackburn) - 9
- Harry Kane (Spurs) - 8
- Robbie Fowler (Liverpool) - 8
- Thierry Henry (Arsenal) -8
- Michael Owen (Liverpool) - 7
- Luis Suarez (Liverpool) - 6
- Wayne Rooney (Man United) - 6
Hat-tricks in top 5 European leagues since 2011/12
- Cristiano Ronaldo 27
- Lionel Messi 25
- Luis Suárez 16
- Sergio Aguero 11
- Edinson Cavani 9
- Robert Lewandowski 8
- Harry Kane 8
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic 8
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