Sergio Aguero and the All-Time Leading Premier League Hat-Trick Scorers

Sergio Aguero made a statement on his debut for Manchester City following his big money transfer for Atletico Madrid. Introduced as a second half substitute against Swansea City, he scored two goals and set up a third. It was exactly the type of start that City fans were hoping for.

He notched another goal in City's third match of the season as the Citizen's put Tottenham Hotspur to the sword with a 5-1 mauling that, in my opinion, is the most impressive result of the season so far. To go away to a top four contender, fielding almost a full strength team, and give them that type of beating makes the rest of the league take notice. Especially when the scoreline actually flattered Spurs!

During that match Aguero's strike partner, Edin Dzeko, helped himself to four goals and put himself in pole position to be City's top goal scorer this campaign. Aguero is not a man who allows himself to be outdone though, and he will also have eyes on the City golden boot this season. He made his case known with a trio of excellent finishes as City beat Wigan on Saturday without breaking a sweat.

It's Aguero's first Premier League hat trick, and I don't think I'm alone in thinking that it won't be his last. With that in mind, I thought I'd put together a short slideshow of the people he'll be looking to match, and overtake, in the hat trick grabbing stakes and how, in my opinion, he stands to do in comparison to them.

I hope you enjoy. 

Special Mention: Eric Cantona

I felt it was important to mention Cantona as he was the first man to score a hat trick in the English Premier League. He grabbed three goals for Leeds United in a 5-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on August 25, 1992. He joined Manchester United three months later and changed the face of English football forever. Surprisingly, he never scored another hat trick in the Premier League.

Those with 2 Hat Tricks

Kevin Gallacher

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Wimbledon on 15/03/1997

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Aston Villa on 17/01/1998

Darren Huckerby

For Coventry City vs. Leeds United on 25/04/1998

For Coventry City vs. Nottingham Forest on 19/01/1999

Steffan Iversen

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Sunderland on 04/03/1997

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Southampton on 11/03/2000 

Andrei Kanchelskis

For Manchester United vs. Manchester City on 10/11/1994 

For Everton vs. Sheffield Wednesday on 27/04/1996

Paul Kitson

For West Ham United vs. Sheffield Wednesday on 03/05/1997

For West Ham United vs. Charlton Athletic 19/11/2001

Frank Lampard

For Chelsea vs. Derby County on 12/03/2008—four goals

For Chelsea vs. Aston Villa on 27/03/2010—four goals

Benjani Mwaruwari

For Portsmouth vs. Reading on 29/09/2007

For Portsmouth vs. Derby County on 19/01/2008

Kevin Phillips

For Sunderland vs. Derby County on 18/09/1999

For Sunderland vs. Bradford City  on 26/12/2000

Fabrizio Ravenelli

For Middlesbrough vs. Liverpool on 17/08/1996 - First player to score a hat trick on his EPL debut

For Middlesbrough vs. Derby County on 05/03/1997

Maxi Rodriguez

For Liverpool vs. Birmingham City on 23/04/2011

For Liverpool vs. Fulham on 09/05/2011

Paul Scholes

For Manchester United vs. West Ham United on 01/04/2000

For Manchester United vs. Newcastle United on 12/04/2003

Mark Viduka

For Leeds United vs. Liverpool on 04/11/2000—four goals

For Leeds United vs. Charlton Athletic on 05/04/2003

Tony Yeboah

For Leeds United vs. Ipswich Town on 05/04/1995

For Leeds United vs. Wimbledon on 23/09/1995

Aguero vs. Those with Two EPL Hat Tricks

I think there's a high probability that Aguero matches these players and surpasses them.

For the video on this slide, I've gone with my favourite player off the list.

Those with 3 Hat Tricks

Emmanuel Adebayor

For Arsenal vs. Derby County on 22/09/2007

For Arsenal vs. Derby County on 28/04/2008

For Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers on 13/09/2008

Yakubu Aiyegbeni

For Portsmouth vs. Middlesbrough on 15/05/2004—four goals

For Portsmouth vs. Fulham on 30/08/2004

For Everton vs. Fulham on 08/12/2007

Nico Anelka

For Arsenal vs. Leicester City on 20/02/1999

For Manchester City vs. Aston Villa on 14/09/2003

For Chelsea vs. Sunderland on 01/11/2008

Tony Cottee

For Everton vs. Sheffield United on 21/08/1993

For Everton vs. Swindon Town on 15/01/1994

For West Ham United vs. Manchester City on 17/12/1994

Jermain Defoe

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Southampton 18/12/2004

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Hull City on 19/08/2009

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wigan Athletic on 22/11/2009—five goals

Didier Drogba

For Chelsea vs. Watford on 11/11/2006

For Chelsea vs. Wigan Athletic on 09/05/2010

For Chelsea vs. West Bromwich Albion on 14/08/2010

Dion Dublin

For Coventry City vs. Sheffield Wednesday on 04/12/1995

For Coventry City vs. Chelsea on 09/08/1997

For Aston Villa vs. Southampton on 14/11/1998

Robbie Keane

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Everton on 12/01/2003

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on 06/12/2003

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Burnley on 26/09/2009—four goals

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

For Manchester United vs. Nottingham Forest on 06/02/1999—four goals

For Manchester United vs. Everton on 04/12/1999—four goals

For Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers on 29/01/2002

Carlos Tevez

For Manchester City vs. Blackburn Rovers on 11/01/2010

For Manchester City vs. Wigan Athletic on 29/10/2010

For Manchester City vs. West Bromwich Albion on 05/02/2011

Fernando Torres

For Liverpool vs. Middlesbrough on 23/02/2008

For Liverpool vs. West Ham United on 05/03/2008

For Liverpool vs. Hull City on 26/09/2009

Aguero vs. Those with Three EPL Hat Tricks

I think there's a good chance that Aguero matches these players and surpasses them if he stays in the league for two or more seasons.

For the video on this slide, I've again gone with my favourite player off the list.

Those with 4 Hat Tricks

Dimitar Berbatov

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Reading on 29/12/2007—four goals

For Manchester United vs. Liverpool on 19/09/2010

For Manchester United vs. Blackburn Rovers on 27/10/2010—five goals

For Manchester United vs. Birmingham City on 22/01/2011

Kevin Campbell

For Arsenal vs. Ipswich Town on 11/09/1993

For Arsenal vs. Swindon Town 27/12/1993

For Nottingham Forest vs. Coventry City on 17/08/1996

For Everton vs. West Ham United on 08/05/1999—First player to score hat tricks for three different EPL clubs

Les Ferdinand

For Queens Park Rangers vs. Nottingham Forest on 10/04/1993

For Queens Park Rangers vs. Everton on 12/04/1993—First player to score hat tricks in consecutive games

For Newcastle United vs. Wimbledon - 21/10/1995

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Leicester City - 25/11/2000

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink

For Chelsea vs. Coventry City on 21/10/2000

For Chelsea vs. Tottenham Hotspur on 13/03/2002

For Chelsea vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on 27/03/2004

For Middlesbrough vs. Blackburn Rovers on 16/10/2004

Matthew Le Tissier

For Southampton vs. Oldham Athletic on 08/05/1993

For Southampton vs. Liverpool on 14/02/1994

For Southampton vs. Norwich City on 09/04/1994

For Southampton vs. Nottingham Forest on 19/08/1995

Teddy Sheringham

For Tottenham Hotspur v.s Leeds United on 20/02/1993

For Tottenham Hotspur vs. Newcastle United on 03/12/1994

For Manchester United vs. Southampton on 28/10/2000

For Portsmouth vs. Bolton Wanderers on 26/08/2003

Chris Sutton

For Norwich City vs. Leeds United on 14/04/1993

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Coventry City on 27/08/1994

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Aston Villa on 13/08/1997

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Leicester City on 28/02/1998

Dwight Yorke

For Aston Villa vs. Newcastle United on 30/09/1996

For Manchester United vs. Leicester City on 16/01/1999

For Manchester United vs. Derby County on 11/03/2000

For Manchester United vs. Arsenal on 25/02/2001

Aguero vs. Those with Four EPL Hat Tricks

I think there's a good possibility that Aguero matches these players and surpasses them if he stays in the league for three or more seasons.

For the video on this slide, I've again gone with my favourite player off the list.

Those with 5 Hat Tricks

Andy Cole

For Newcastle United vs. Liverpool on 21/11/1993

For Newcastle United vs. Coventry City on 23/02/1994

For Manchester United vs. Ipswich Town on 04/03/1995—five goals, first player to score five in an EPL match

For Manchester United vs. Barnsley on 25/10/1997

For Manchester United vs. Newcastle United on 30/08/1999—four goals

Ruud Van Nistelrooy

For Manchester United vs. Southampton on 22/12/2001

For Manchester United vs. Newcastle United on 23/11/2002

For Manchester United vs. Fulham on 22/03/2003

For Manchester United vs. Charlton Athletic on 03/05/2003

For Manchester United vs. Leicester City on 27/09/2003

Ian Wright

For Arsenal vs. Ipswich Town on 05/03/1994

For Arsenal vs. Southampton on 19/03/1994

For Arsenal vs. Ipswich Town on 15/04/1995

For Arsenal vs. Sheffield Wednesday on 16/09/1996

For Arsenal vs. Bolton Wanderers on 13/09/1997

Aguero vs. Those with Five EPL Hat Tricks

 The three players on this list are among the elite goalscorers in Premier League History.I think Aguero can match these players, and surpass them, but it will take a minimum of four full seasons in my opinion.

For the video on this slide, I've again gone with my favourite player off the list.

The Man with 6 Hat Tricks

Wayne Rooney

For Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers on 28/10/2006

For Manchester United vs .Portsmouth on 28/11/2009

For Manchester United vs. Hull City on 23/01/2010—four goals

For Manchester United vs. West Ham United on 02/04/2011

For Manchester United vs. Arsenal on 28/08/2011

For Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers on 10/09/11

Aguero vs. The Man with Six EPL Hat Tricks

Rooney is a prime example that a player can notch up hat tricks in a short space of time. Over the first 210 Premier League games of Rooney's career he managed only three hat tricks. In the last 10 games, he has doubled that total. Aguero is certainly a match for Rooney in terms of talent and is a better natural finisher than the United man. I don't see him matching or surpassing Rooney simply because Rooney will almost certainly add to his tally. I think Aguero can get six Premier League hat tricks if he stays at City for long enough, but I don't think he'll go much higher than this.

Those with 8 Hat Tricks

Thierry Henry

For Arsenal vs. Leicester City on 26/12/2000

For Arsenal vs. West Ham United on 19/01/2003

For Arsenal vs. Liverpool on 09/04/2004

For Arsenal vs. Leeds United on 16/04/2004—four goals

For Arsenal vs. Portsmouth on 05/03/2005

For Arsenal vs. Norwich City on 02/04/2005

For Arsenal vs. Middlesbrough on 14/01/2006

For Arsenal vs. Wigan Athletic on 07/05/2006

Michael Owen

For Liverpool vs. Sheffield Wednesday on 14/02/1998

For Liverpool vs. Newcastle United on 30/08/1998

For Liverpool vs. Nottingham Forest on 24/10/1998

For Liverpool vs. Aston Villa on 06/09/2000

For Liverpool vs. Newcastle United on 05/05/2001

For Liverpool vs. Manchester City on 28/09/2002

For Liverpool vs. West Bromwich Albion on 26/04/2003—four goals

For Newcastle United vs. West Ham United on 17/12/2005

Aguero vs. Those with Eight EPL Hat Tricks

You're really in the rarefied air when you reach the eight hat trick club. Owen and Henry are two of the best goal scorers the Premier League has even seen and Henry is arguably the greatest player ever to grace the league. Aguero has the ability to score eight hat tricks if he stays in the Premier League for six seasons or so, but I think he will max out at seven.

I've gone for an Henry video because he scored so many wonderful goals.

The Man with 9 Hat Tricks

Robbie Fowler

For Liverpool vs. Southampton on 30/10/1993

For Liverpool vs. Arsenal on 28/08/1994

For Liverpool vs. Bolton Wanderers on 23/09/1995—four goals

For Liverpool vs. Arsenal on 23/12/1995

For Liverpool vs. Middlesbrough on 14/12/1996—four goals

For Liverpool vs. Aston Villa on 21/11/1998

For Liverpool vs. Southampton on 16/01/1999

For Liverpool vs. Leicester City on 20/10/2001

For Leeds United vs. Bolton Wanderers on 26/12/2001

Aguero vs. The Man With Nine Hat Tricks

The greatest natural finisher English football has seen since Jimmy Greaves, 162 Premier League goals, including nine hat tricks, and he was robbed of countless more due to injuries. I'm not sure if he would have matched Shearers goal total, but I do think he would have shattered his hat trick record had he not been so unfortunate. 

The Man with 11 Hat Tricks

Alan Shearer

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Leeds United on 23/10/1993

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Queens Park Rangers on 26/11/1994

For Blackburn Rovers vs. West Ham United on 02/01/1995

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Ipswich Town on 28/01/1995

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Coventry City on 23/09/1995

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Nottingham Forest on 18/11/1995

For Blackburn Rovers vs. West Ham United on 02/12/1995

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Bolton Wanderers on 03/02/1996 

For Blackburn Rovers vs. Tottenham Hotspur on 16/03/1996

For Newcastle United vs. Leicester City on 02/02/1997

For Newcastle United vs. Sheffield Wednesday on 19/09/1999

Aguero vs. The Man with 11 Hat Tricks

Alan Shearer is a great goal scorer in the history of the Premiership. His record is second to none and I don't think anyone will break his record of Premier League goals. Wayne Rooney is the only player with a chance of breaking his record of hat tricks, and I don't think even he will get close. Like I mentioned, I think Aguero falls four short of Shearer.

Special Mention

I simply had to give a special mention to Dennis Bergkamp as he scored what I believe to be the greatest ever hat trick in the history of the Premier League. He grabbed his one and only Premier League hat trick away to Leicester City in a 3-3 on August 27, 1997.

The goals are at 0:06, 0:30 and 2:54. There's a slight element of luck to the second goal, but I'm sure you'll agree the first and third goals are world class, especially the third.

Conclusion and Some Interesting Facts

So there you have it, a rundown of every player to ever score multiple Premier League hat tricks, and my predictions on how the man they call Kun can do in comparison.

I thought I'd finish with 11 interesting hat trick related facts you may not be aware of:

1) The team that has conceded the most hat tricks in EPL history is Southampton with 14. Bolton and Newcastle and West Ham are joint second with 11 each.

2) The team that has scored the most hat tricks in EPL history is Arsenal with 30, with Liverpool and Manchester United joint second on 28.

3) Four players have scored hat tricks for three different EPL clubs, Nico Anelka, Kevin Campbell, Les Ferdinand and Teddy Sheringham.

4) The quickest hat trick in EPL history was scored by Robbie Fowler. He grabbed his trio in just four minutes and 23 seconds against Arsenal.

5) The fastest player to score four goals in one match was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who did it in just 12 minutes against Nottingham Forest. What made his feat even more remarkable was that he came on as a sub in the match.

6) On only one occasion have teammates scored hat tricks in the same match. Robert Pires and Jermaine Pennant managed it for Arsenal against Southampton in 2003. Interestingly it remains the only hat trick either have scored in the EPL.

7) On only one occasion have players from opposite teams scored hat tricks in the same match. In 2007, Wigan beat Blackburn 5-3 with Marcus Bent getting three of the winning side's goals, whilst Roque Santa Cruz scored all of Blackburns

8) Two players have been denied hat tricks by the Premier League's dubious goals panels. Egil Ostenstad of Southampton had a goal against Manchester United taken off him and ruled as a Denis Irwin own goal. Nico Anelka was denied when he had a goal against Everton ruled a Tomasz Radzinski own goal.

9) Players of 34 different nationalities have scored EPL hat tricks

10) The season with the least hat tricks was 2006/07 with just three scored throughout the EPL.

11) The season with the most hat tricks was 1993/94 with a whopping 19.

That's all from me, I hope you've found this slideshow enjoyable, interesting and informative.