Harry Kane goes into Tottenham‘s clash with Fulham on Saturday seeking once more to end his bizarre August goalscoring drought.
The England captain’s early-season woes continued when he failed to score in last week’s opening win over Newcastle.
Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at Kane’s record in August, as well as other similar statistical anomalies.
Waiting for September
Following the Newcastle game, Kane has now played 14 Premier League games in the season’s first month – failing to score in 990 minutes of football and 45 shots.
His August malaise extends to all competitions and last season Kane explicitly referenced the date after breaking his duck with a brace for England against Malta on September 1, suggesting it is becoming a psychological barrier.
He scored 13 goals in eight games that month, including six in the league, and now has nine goals in Premier League games in September at a rate of one every 91 minutes.
He has five in only seven games in October and double figures in every other month, with his highest tally being 17 in 23 games in December and his best record 12 in 12, and a goal every 77 minutes, in March.
Kane’s not alone
Among the top 50 scorers in the Premier League since its rebranding in 1992, only Kane and Ian Wright have a barren month on their record.
Wright scored 113 Premier League goals – 104 for Arsenal and nine for West Ham – but none of them came in the month of February.
Chelsea’s Eden Hazard has scored 69 Premier League goals but none in September while West Ham striker Andy Carroll is the highest goalscorer with more than one such month, with 53 goals but none in September – injury means that will not change this season – or May.
The quartet are the only players with 50 Premier League goals to their name to have a blank month.
Prolific last term: Harry Kane.
Spurs’ slow starters
Curiously, the August blues are not unique to Kane among Tottenham’s current squad.
Christian Eriksen’s 41 Premier League goals and Son Heung-min’s 30 have also all come after the calendar turned over to September.
Since Kane’s debut in 2012, Tottenham have played 18 matches in August and scored 21 goals, with 13 scorers including defenders, holding midfielders, less prolific strikers than Kane – and even one player who has never been on the club’s books, with Michy Batshuayi contributing an own goal while playing for Chelsea.
Spreading the load
Should Kane score against Fulham on Saturday or Manchester United on August 27, he will finally join 221 players who have scored in all 10 months of the Premier League season.
Wayne Routledge achieved the feat in the space of just 16 goals for Swansea, having not scored in his first six top-flight campaigns.
Among active Premier League players, Chelsea’s Victor Moses has done so with the fewest total goals – 20, beaten only by Routledge and former Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender Ugo Ehiogu (19).
Three other players – Watford striker Troy Deeney, Bournemouth winger Junior Stanislas and Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur – have the same opportunity as Kane this month but suspension ends Everton defender Phil Jagielka’s chances.
Just three players – former Newcastle and Manchester United striker Andy Cole and Chelsea and Arsenal’s respective record scorers Frank Lampard and Thierry Henry – can boast double-figure totals for all 10 months.
