The Premier League has never seen so many goals scored - but why?
Last weekend, the teams in the English top flight scored a combined 45 goals, the highest number in the history of a league matchday.
The previous record of 44 goals belonged to the second round of the 2020/21 season and the 34th round of last season.
Last weekend's fixture also broke the record for goals in a single day: Saturday, February 3rd saw 26 goals in five games, fuelled by Newcastle's insane 4-4 draw with Luton.
The 2023/24 Premier League season has the highest goal average in the tournament's history. So far, teams have scored 730 goals in 228 games: an average of 3.20 per game.
Last season ended with an average of 2.85 goals per game, with a total of 1,084 goals.
In the main European leagues, only the Eredivisie has a higher average. With 577 balls in the net in 20 games, the average number of goals in the Netherlands is 3.21.
The Bundesliga has an almost identical goal average to the English and Dutch: 3.19. After 20 rounds, German teams have scored 571 goals in 179 games.
In both the Eredivisie and Bundesliga, the averages remain as high as last year. The same goes for La Liga (average of 2.64 goals/game), Serie A (2.55) and Ligue 1 (2.51).
Only the Premier League has made a huge leap from one season to the next.
Why the flurry of goals?
The answer to the glut of goals in England may lie in the attacking football of the managers, a shortage of excellent centre-backs and some teams that don't hold their nerve, such as Sheffield United - who have already conceded 59 goals in the league.
According to data from our partners at Opta, published by the Guardian, the most likely answer lies in added time.
The data reveals that this season's Premier League games are on average almost 3 minutes longer than last year.
The current average extra time is 11 minutes and 41 seconds per match - which, like the number of goals, is an absolute league record.
With referees instructed this season to add the exact time spent on substitutions, VAR reviews, injuries and so on, there are simply more minutes available for players to get the ball in.
Another fact Opta shows is that there is more of the ball in play this season. The current average is 58 minutes and 31 seconds, compared to 54 minutes and 52 seconds last season.
And 9.2 per cent of all goals in the tournament have come in stoppage time. So far, 67 goals have been scored after the 45th minute.
Arsenal and Liverpool have scored the most goals in extra time: eight each.
Only Nottingham Forest haven't scored after 90 minutes.
With plenty of goals guaranteed, the 24th round of the Premier League kicks off on Saturday, February 10th with seven games: check out the fixtures.
