We’ve picked the best frontline every Premier League club can muster - and ordered them from least lethal to most deadly
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It was arguably Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez that truly popularised the idea of an iconic front three. A holy trinity of South American geniuses that together, scored an unprecedented 122 goals combined in Barcelona’s 2014/15 treble-winning season.
Since then, everyone's tried to build an attacking front three of their own – so we thought we'd order them all in the Premier League. We've gone for the best possible combination – whether or not these teams play with a trio up top or whether they choose to structure their attackers differently.
The best things come in threes, as we all know. BLTs, Destiny’s Child, Lord of the Rings. So we thought we’d tally up each of the Premier League’s top threes and work out the best… and the not so best. Are any of these threatening MSN? Or even BBC?
20. Norwich: Dowell, Pukki, Rashica
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Bringing up the rear, just as they are in the table, we have Norwich City with Kieran Dowell providing the creativity and balance for Teemu Pukki and Milot Rashica.
This is a good Championship attack – especially with Josh Sargent as backup – but lacks the pizzazz to keep the Canaries in the top flight this season and sadly doesn't have some of the individual talent of some of our other trios on this list. Sorry Norwich fans.
19. Brighton: Trossard, Maupay, Welbeck
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Brighton play in all sorts of formations, with either two or three up front. Unfortunately though, we all know the biggest weakness in this team: putting the ball in the back of the net.
Leandro Trossard, Neal Maupay and Danny Welbeck are all diligent pressers, hard workers and capable of magic. All three lack cutting edge and ruthlessness, however. It's an OK attack but easily the weakest area of the Seagulls' team.
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18. Watford: Sarr, King, Dennis
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Just in the relegation zone of our list, we find Watford's three amigos, Ismaila Sarr, Joshua King and Emmanuel Dennis. It's actually a very physical, hard-working attack.
Once again, Watford are let down by the lack of real genius in this front three – and in real life, perhaps find themselves destined for the drop because of a dearth of creativity behind these three players.
17. Newcastle: Fraser, Wood, Saint-Maximin
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Let's start with the obvious: Allan Saint-Maximin is a star. Beyond that, things are a little more difficult to pick with Newcastle's front three, with Eddie Howe having plenty of grafters in his ranks.
Callum Wilson has struggled with relentless injuries so we've got Chris Wood in our best front three, for now. Fraser's creative numbers are a little better than Jacob Murphy's or Miguel Almiron's but still, the best possible front three at the Toon isn't tearing down many trees.
16. Southampton: Adams, Broja, S. Armstrong
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Southampton play with a defined front two, so we've chosen their best two strikers: Armando Broja and Che Adams, plus Stuart Armstrong, who's been integral to their season.
The Saints trio has a lot of quality and is extremely regimented off the ball. It's a very good frontline and proof of how good the league has become that this is only 16th on our list.
15. Burnley: Cornet, Weghorst, McNeil
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Perhaps a surprise to see Burnley quite so far up this list but Maxwel Cornet, Wout Weghorst and Dwight McNeil are all great players – and all three could be squad players at top six clubs.
Six times this season, the Clarets have scored twice or more, which considering they've won just four games, isn't bad going. There's plenty wrong at Turf Moor but the attack isn't one of the bigger problems.
14. Wolves: Hwang, Jimenez, Neto
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On paper at least, Wolves have a lot of good attackers. Hwang Hee-Chan gets the nod for us ahead of Francisco Trincao and Daniel Podence on account of his performances this season – and while Pedro Neto and Raul Jimenez have both had their injury troubles in the last couple of years, both are phenomenal on their day.
Wolves would be higher on this list if that day had happened a little more this campaign. Bruno Lage has guided this side so far up the table on stringent defensive displays more than blowing teams away.
13. Brentford: Eriksen, Toney, Mbuemo
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Christian Eriksen really feels like a missing piece for Brentford. The Bees have had some great front threes in recent seasons but we're picking the great Dane to give this trio a lot of balance.
Ivan Toney has been great this season even when he's gone through barren patches in front of goal, while Bryan Mbuemo has tied the whole team together with his running and stretching of the pitch. This is a great attack – Brentford fans will just hope they can keep it together.
12. Everton: Gray, Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison
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On paper, one of the Premier League's better attacks. Everton have shipped goals like no tomorrow this season and had a real lack of creative thrust with no James Rodriguez or Gylfi Sigurdsson. Both Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison have missed chunks of the season, too.
But theoretically, this spearhead has everything you'd want: ability in transition, aerially and to produce the unexpected. It's just a shame it's not panned out that way this term.
11. Leicester City: Lookman, Vardy, Barnes
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Two thirds of this trio is locked in. Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho are both horribly unlucky to miss out from our team – Leicester really do have some of the best centre-forwards in the league, don't they? – but we have to go with theoretical balance.
Ademola Lookman hasn't set the world alight at the King Power Stadium but he's proved to be a more able foil than Ayoze Perez was. Jamie Vardy is still going strong and Harvey Barnes is superb. It's a good triad.
10. Crystal Palace: Olise, Zaha, Eze
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Apologies to Jean-Philippe Mateta, Christian Benteke and Odsonne Edouard but we've gone for the most exciting front three here, despite how impractical it may be.
Crystal Palace have three players better at holding up play than Wilf Zaha but that aside, the Ivorian can do everything. Michael Olise and Ebere Eze are two of the most exciting young talents in the country, with flair in abundance. This is a trio that haven't played nearly enough but they compliment each other so well on paper. Individually, they're all stunning, too.
9. Aston Villa: Buendia, Watkins, Coutinho
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That narrow, three-pronged attack from Steven Gerrard has made Leon Bailey and Danny Ings look a little redundant since joining. That makes Emi Buendia the natural right-winger for this forward line, with Ollie Watkins chosen ahead of Ings.
Philippe Coutinho elevates the overall level of this particular trio by some margin, too. As a group, they can all do a lot of damage.
8. Leeds: Raphinha, Bamford, Harrison
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Well, this is a surprise. Leeds United have struggled this season – but they're very high up on this list. The problem is that these three players have barely started together this season (among many others in a deep injury crisis).
As an attack though, Raphinha, Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison have everything you want, with natural goals, chance creation and a focal point for the intense wide-men to work off. Maybe Jesse Marsch will get this team to where it belongs next season.
7. West Ham: Bowen, Antonio, Benrahma
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Michail Antonio has gone off the boil a little in the second half of the season, yet Jarrod Bowen has carried the side ably. Said Benrahma completes the best West Ham frontline possible.
West Ham are probably going to finish around this place in the league so there's no shame in being around here in our list, with a mix of flair, finesse and brute force across these players. With the likes of Pablo Fornals and Andriy Yarmolenko to call on too, there are some top options there.
6. Arsenal: Saka, Martinelli, Smith Rowe
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Arsenal have never played this front three, always using Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette or Eddie Nketiah as a striker ahead of this youthful front three. But on paper, it could be explosive.
These are three of the most exciting young players in the world. Bukayo Saka has risen to become one of the best wingers in the world this season, particularly – but there's a lack of natural goalscoring prowess, there. If we could offer you any frontline on this list for the next 10 years, though? You'd probably take this one.
5. Manchester United: Sancho, Cavani, Ronaldo
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No Marcus Rashford in Manchester United's best front three: Cristiano Ronaldo's drifts out wide and lack of all-round centre-forward play mean he's suitable enough on the left in this team. Edinson Cavani leads the line.
With Jadon Sancho on the right, this could actually be a fluid and free-flowing attack. Why haven't United tried it this season? Despite the slow start from Sancho combined with the ageing of his two colleagues in this trio, this is comfortably the fifth-best attack in the league.
4. Chelsea: Lukaku, Havertz, Mount
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We did say the best attack on paper. Romelu Lukaku still has potential to be the world-class striker that he has been in the past – so we're using his ability to attack from the right of a narrow three in this imaginary frontline.
This is a trio of with deftness, power, pace and exceptional movement, tailor-made for Tuchelball. If they're all on form, there's not stopping them.
3. Manchester City: Jesus, Foden, Sterling
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Perhaps the most difficult front three to pick in the league. We've omitted Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez simply because of limited impact this season, while Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva can all play up front in Guardiola's system – but we've only considered conventional forwards, rather than simply picking our three favourite players.
Gabriel Jesus has been incredibly impressive from the right, especially in big games. Phil Foden could play either left or centre – and has to feature – so that just leaves one more place, which we're giving to Raheem Sterling. There's no wrong answer for City though, is there?
2. Tottenham: Kulusevski, Kane, Son
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If the rest of Tottenham's team were this good, they might be in a title race rather than battling for fourth. Harry Kane is one of the most complete strikers on Earth and Son Heung-min one of the most devastating inside forwards.
That leaves the other spot to Dejan Kulusevski who's kept pace with his teammates since a January switch from Juventus, as Spurs rack up the goals like nobody's business. There's creativity and goals a-plenty – and not just from Kane. Now if only Antonio Conte could add some more pieces to the side as good as this…
1. Liverpool: Salah, Mane, Diaz
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It had to be – and yes, we could've inserted either Bobby Firmino or Diogo Jota into this line-up.
But a winning line-up is worth sticking with and Liverpool's new-look frontline has been outstanding since January. Sadio Mane in particular has looked unbelievable reborn as a No.9, while Luis Diaz has chipped in with goals and assists while showing the kind of hunger off the ball that Jurgen Klopp loves.
Oh, and Mohamed Salah headlines this attack as the best player in the league this season and potentially the best footballer on Earth. Can anyone stop these three?
Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.
