When Erling Haaland headed in Kevin De Bruyne’s cross last Saturday, the Belgian joined a prestigious group of players that have assisted 100 or more goals in the Premier League.
De Bruyne became only the fifth player to achieve that feat after Frank Lampard (102), Wayne Rooney (103), Cesc Fabregas (111) and Ryan Giggs (162), needing only 237 games to do it — the fastest of the five to reach the milestone.
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The Belgian once said that he loves assisting more than scoring and he has been true to his words since his arrival in the Premier League back in 2013-14.
During his spell with Chelsea, De Bruyne only played three Premier League games. Despite that, he managed to record an assist for Jose Mourinho’s side in 2013-14 after needling a pass through the Hull City defence for Oscar to open the scoring — a type of pass that will define De Bruyne’s reign in the Premier League.
A season and a half with Wolfsburg allowed De Bruyne to harness his creativity — recording 20 Bundesliga assists in 2014-15 — before he returned to the Premier League to join Manchester City. Since 2015, he has assisted 99 goals for City in the Premier League, taking his tally in England’s top flight to 100.
Throughout his time at City, De Bruyne has topped the assists charts in the league on three occasions: 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2019-20. In the latter of those, his 20 assists equalled Thierry Henry’s record for most in a single season.
Injuries in 2018-19 meant that De Bruyne only appeared in half of City’s Premier League games, coming on as a substitute in eight of those. Accordingly, he only managed two assists that season. Both were in an important win away to Crystal Palace.
This season he is topping the assists chart with 14 assists, helped by a certain Norwegian team-mate. Haaland’s dominance in the box has been complementing De Bruyne’s passing ability, with seven of his 14 assists delivered to the striker. It is the highest assist-scorer combination in the league this season.
Haaland’s off-ball movement and prowess, in terms of attacking balls inside the penalty area, enables De Bruyne to play passes like this one against Manchester United on October 2. Here, De Bruyne curls the ball in behind the United defence and towards the back post…
… where Haaland attacks the cross to make it 3-0.
The pair have only started 21 games together, but Haaland has received the fourth-most assists by De Bruyne in the Premier League (seven), tied with Phil Foden.
The player who has received the most assists from De Bruyne is Sergio Aguero (19), and the Argentine is the only player to receive three consecutive assists by the City midfielder.
Behind Aguero, Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling are tied with 14 assists received. Overall, 26 players have benefited from his service in the Premier League.
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The types of assists De Bruyne has provided in the Premier League vary from set pieces, balls behind the defence and his trademark pass through the corridor of uncertainty, to square passes, cutbacks, regular crosses and two-metre passes where the forward does most of the work.
Twenty-four of the 100 assists came from passes through or over the opponent’s defensive line. De Bruyne’s assist to Haaland against West Ham United on the opening weekend of this season is an example of this type of assist. Here, the City midfielder finds the Norwegian’s run in behind the West Ham defence…
… and the striker scores past Alphonse Areola to double City’s lead.
It was also his assist over the Southampton defence to Jesus in 2017-18 that meant that City were the first team to reach 100 points in Premier League history.
However, the type of assist that De Bruyne is most associated with is his curled pass or cross through the corridor of uncertainty between the defenders and the goalkeeper. His assist for Jack Grealish’s goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers is the best example of that this season.
De Bruyne often plays this pass after either overlapping City’s right-winger, making an underlapping run through the defence or just lingering in the right half-space and crossing it towards the back post.
He constantly seeks it too. “I think that area is just dangerous. It’s very difficult to defend, it’s very difficult for the goalkeeper to come out to, because if they miss that’s a 100 per cent goal. So, for me, it’s just a danger area for the other team,” said the Belgian. “Imagine the defender making a tackle, he isn’t in control and the ball can go into their own net. It’s just a danger zone for them to defend.”
Twenty per cent of De Bruyne’s assists in the Premier League came via the corridor of uncertainty — eight of those in the 2019-20 season when he managed his highest assist tally in a single season. But it’s the pass to Ilkay Gundogan on the last day of the 2021-22 season that is probably the most valuable of them all.
That pass to Gundogan against Aston Villa clinched the title for City with nine minutes to go, and the way he did it was reminiscent of all the other De Bruyne passes towards the back post.
Set pieces also feature, with 15 assists — five of them in the 2016-17 season. With City increasing their focus on this phase of the game, that number should increase.
Away from regular crosses, square passes into the box and cutbacks, his regular passes are often assists. This pass is simple and it’s the forward’s finishing that’s predominantly behind the goal. But four of De Bruyne’s 11 assists from regular passes were because of his abilities on the transition. “In any transition, Kevin is the best,” said Pep Guardiola last season.
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De Bruyne’s skill set and his love of creating chances for his team-mates make him the perfect assist machine. His scanning and off-ball movement puts him in the right place to receive the pass while also knowing where the next one will be.
As for his vision, Guardiola points to a special ability. “Kevin has the ability that is so difficult to find: running at the highest speed possible, and the ability to see the passes,” said the City manager. “Normally, the player has to run a little slower to see what happens.”
Then it’s all about the execution and the weight of the pass.
One hundred down, 63 to go.