The lowest scoring teams in Premier League history - ranked
By Tom Gott
As the old saying goes, goals win you games.
These days, it's not uncommon to see teams flirt with the 100-goal barrier, but some clubs aren't so lucky. For some, getting the ball into the back of the net becomes a Herculean task, and the aftermath is very rarely pretty.
Let's check out the seven lowest-scoring teams in Premier League history.
7. Aston Villa (2015/16) - 27
With a whopping 27 goals and three wins to their name, Aston Villa are pretty keen to make sure you forget their 2015/16 season.
Villa's 29-year stay in the top flight came to an end in dramatic fashion, with Joleon Lescott's magical tweeting pockets one of several bizarre memories from the campaign.
None of Tim Sherwood, Remi Garde and Eric Black were able to save Villa, who were led by the seven goals of Jordan Ayew.
6. Middlesbrough (2016/17) - 27
Just one year later, Middlesbrough matched that tally of 27, and surprisingly, they didn't even finish bottom of the league.
Aitor Karanka and Steve Agnew's side won five games in 2016/17, largely thanks to the nine goals of Alvaro Negredo. Next up in the scoring charts was defensive midfielder Marten de Roon with four, which tells you everything you need to know.
Cristhian Stuani also bagged four that year, but just 12 months later, he was celebrating after scoring 21 La Liga goals for Girona. Typical.
5. Sunderland (2005/06) - 26
Rock bottom of the league in 2005/06 were Sunderland, who ended the campaign with a lowly 26 goals.
They scored more than once in just five games that season, and only two of those ended in victory as Mick McCarthy's side picked up just 15 points all season. Their closest rivals, West Brom, had 30.
The goals were shared out among the Black Cats' squad that season, with nobody managing more than Anthony Le Tallec's four.
4. Norwich City (2019/20) - 26
Of all of the historically awful teams in the Premier League era, 2019/20 Norwich are up there with the most entertaining.
Daniel Farke's Canaries attacked like a side who wanted 100 goals in a campaign, but a combination of inexperience and a general lack of quality restricted them to 26.
We'll never forget the 3-2 win over Manchester City and Teemu Pukki's 11 goals, six of which came in the first five games.
3. Huddersfield Town (2018/19) - 22
Huddersfield Town came close to stealing the honour of the worst team in Premier League history in 2018/19, when they managed just 22 goals all season.
They picked up three wins, two of which came in November 2018, and they found themselves on a run of one point from 14 games at one point in the season.
Karlan Grant, who joined the club in January that season, finished as Huddersfield's top scorer with four goals, one ahead of centre-back Zanka. Yikes.
2. Sunderland (2002/03) - 21
Sunderland's second entry on this list comes in the shape of this former record. At the time, nobody had scored fewer than the 21 goals managed by them in 2002/03.
A lack of goals came as a real shock to Sunderland, who had just seen Kevin Phillips win the European Golden Boot for scoring 30 goals himself in 2000/01.
Phillips finished as top scorer with just six goals this time around, and those struggles in front of goal saw Sunderland relegated with a then-record low 19 points too.
1. Derby County (2007/08) - 20
You knew it was coming.
The Derby side of 2007/08 found themselves in the record books for all the wrong reasons as they recorded the fewest goals scored (20), fewest points won (11), fewest victories (1) and earliest relegation (March 29, 32 games), and they also equalled the 108-year Football League record of going an entire season with just one victory.
After winning their sixth game of the season, a 1-0 win over Newcastle, Derby failed to win any of their remaining 32 fixtures. They didn't even win their first four in the Championship, setting a new record for most league games without a victory (36).