Middlesbrough look set for a return to the Championship, and their lack of goals this season will prove to be a main reason for their impending relegation. They look set to join the likes of Aston Villa, Sunderland and Derby County in the Premier League all-time lowest scoring team list.
Middlesbrough fans have had little to cheer about this season
Their supporters have only seen their side score only 23 goals so far this campaign. Middlesbrough are currently nine points off safety with five games left to play. Unless there is a sudden influx of goals and change of fortunes at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough’s latest stint in the Premier League will be a short one.
Middlesbrough are in 19th position and are the league’s lowest goal scorers, with bottom club Sunderland scoring three more goals than their North-East rivals. As it stands, the Teessiders are on course to become one of the lowest scoring side’s in Premier League history.
We take a look at five of the lowest sides in the Premier League since its formation:
5. Middlesbrough 2008/09 season – 28 goals
If the indignity of relegation from the Premier League at the first time of asking was not bad enough, Boro are on course to beat their own personal club record of lowest goals scored in a Premier League season.
Not surprisingly this side also fell victim to the dreaded drop from England’s top tier and finished in 19th place. Tuncay Sanli was Middlebrough’s top goalscorer that season, as the Turkish international finished with seven league goals.
Middlesbrough’s tally has since been matched by Norwich City in 2013/14 and Burnley in 2014/15. However, if things do not improve on the goal front in the final weeks of this season then they will have a position in this list all to themselves.
Tuncay Sanli was Middlesbrough’s top goalscorer in their 2008/09 campaign
4. Aston Villa 2015/16 season – 27 goals
Aston Villa supporters will want to forget the season that signalled the end of their 29 year stay in England’s top division.
This season was nothing short of a disaster for the Villain’s, and their final total of 17 points meant that they finished 22 points adrift of Premier League safety. Aston Villa only managed to secure three wins all campaign and their goal tally of 27 would have been a major contributing factor.
Jordan Ayew finished as the club’s top league goalscorer, and he found the net seven just times.
Aston Villa’s Jordan Ayew looks dejected
3. Sunderland 2005/06 season – 26 goals scored
Sunderland finished this season with 15 points, a Premier League record low points total at the time. If this humiliation was not enough for their supporters, they saw their side only score 26 goals all season.
In a season to forget for their supporters, Sunderland won just three of their 38 league games and fell back down to the Championship without so much as a whimper.
Their top league goalscorer award was shared amongst no less than four players. Anthony Le Tallec, Liam Lawrence, Dean Whitehead and Tommy Miller finished the season on three goals each.
Liam Lawrence (left) was joint top league goalscorer with three league goals
2. Sunderland 2002/03 season – 21 goals scored
Sunderland’s recent fortunes in the top tier of English football has stood out in the club’s history books – but for all the wrong reasons.
This season saw Sunderland finish rooted firmly to the bottom of the table, after securing just 19 points and finished 25 points adrift of 17th place.
Kevin Phillips, who had previously finished a season with 30 goals to his name for Sunderland, managed to only find the net on six occasions this campaign.
Kevin Phillips scored 130 goals in his six years at the Stadium of Light
1. Derby County 2007/08 season – 20 goals scored
It comes as no real surprise to find the Premier League’s lowest ever points scorers in a season are also the division’s lowest goal scorers.
Derby finished their one season back in the Premier League with 11 points and just 20 goals scored. As well as being unable to score goals, they couldn’t stop conceding them – their defence let in 89 goals in 38 games. They won just one game all season.
The less that is said about this season to Derby fans, the better. Kenny Miller was Derby’s top goalscorer with four league goals as his side fell back down to the Championship with an almighty crash, and have not returned to England’s top tier since.
Kenny Miller celebrates scoring in Derby’s only win of the season
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