Welcome to the 10th edition of The Alternative Premier League Table, where each Thursday, Anantaajith Raghuraman analyses the entire division through a specific lens.

After looking at each club’s big chances created and converted last week, this time our qualifier is goals scored by new faces.

As usual, the article that follows is long but detailed, so please settle down and enjoy it all — or search for the side you want to read about.

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After nine matchdays it is a good time to check in with the new players at every club.

After a flurry of transfer activity across the Premier League in the summer, the impact of signings has been mixed. Some have hit the ground running, while the majority are still acclimatising to new surroundings. A few clubs have also found saviours in the form of previously untested youngsters.

This week’s Alternative Table is all about how reliant each club have been on new faces for their goals. This includes new signings and youngsters who have made their debut for the club in question this season (like Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha and Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi).

Key takeaways include:

• No new signing has scored a higher share of his team’s goals than Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade (44 per cent). In terms of goal involvements (goals + assists), that crown would go to Everton‘s Jack Grealish (56 per cent).
• Manchester United’s investment in a new-look frontline has paid off so far, with Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko scoring seven of their 15 goals (47 per cent).
• New faces (including Ngumoha) have contributed a third of Liverpool‘s goals, even with record duo Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz yet to score in the league.
• Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Fulham have received no goals from new faces.
• Manchester City have only two goal from new faces, with Erling Haaland scoring 65% of their total
• Leeds United have heavily relied on new signings scoring, with two-thirds of their goals coming from such players.

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Newcastle United have benefited immensely from a new signing hitting the ground running in Woltemade. The 23-year-old scored on debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers before netting in successive matches against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion.

His four strikes are 44 per cent of Newcastle’s nine scored, with that total of nine the joint third-least they have managed after nine league matches since 2018-19 (level with last season). Anthony Elanga is yet to score or assist despite showing flashes of quality, while Yoane Wissa has been sidelined since the start of the campaign with a knee injury.

The only player to rival Woltemade’s impact is Grealish, who has five goal contributions (one goal and four assists) for Everton.

And while the loan arrival from Manchester City has not assisted since the 3-2 win over Wolves in August, he remains key to Everton’s chance creation along with Iliman Ndiaye, and another new signing in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who has scored and assisted once apiece.

Thierno Barry has started just two matches while Tyler Dibling has played all of 62 league minutes.

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Crystal Palace, Fulham and Aston Villa signed just 11 outfield players between them in the summer.

Two of Palace’s signings, Jaydee Canvot and Borna Sosa, are defenders and have played one combined league minute. Christantus Uche, who signed on loan, has played just eight minutes across three matches.

Only Yeremy Pino has featured consistently but is yet to score despite generating 1.1xG (expected goals) in seven matches. A goal is not too far away for the 23-year-old signed from Villarreal and it is worth remembering that Ismaila Sarr, who they signed to play in the No 10 position last summer, scored for the first time in his 12th league appearance.

Fulham signed three attackers on deadline day in Kevin, Samuel Chukwueze and Jonah Kusi-Asare.

Kusi-Asare, 18, has received just one league minute, even with Rodrigo Muniz and Raul Jimenez dealing with injuries. Meanwhile, Kevin has looked bright in his six substitute appearances, taking players on and displaying the Brazilian flair that made him so coveted at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Chukwueze assisted Ryan Sessegnon’s goal at Bournemouth with a perfect through ball earlier this month but has not played since then due to a calf injury.

As for Villa, my colleague Jacob Tanswell outlined earlier this month that marquee arrival Harvey Elliott (on loan from Liverpool with an obligation to buy) is settling in slowly but steadily. Jadon Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, was an early substitute in the 1-0 win over Manchester City and had a point-blank shot saved well by Gianluigi Donnarumma, before being substituted himself in the second half. Sancho has aggregated just 53 league minutes so far and is also acclimatising slowly.

Evann Guessand has started four league matches and come off the bench in four more. But Villa’s early struggles to create chances and him being thrust into the starting XI by the end of August, after only signing earlier that month, clearly impacted his output. He has attempted just two shots in 361 minutes.

They have not got the instant impact Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford offered in January, but Elliott’s quality, Sancho’s bright performance against City and Guessand scoring in the 2-1 Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles should inspire some confidence.

Bournemouth’s summer of change saw them sign two highly-rated forwards in Amine Adli and Ben Gannon-Doak from Bayer Leverkusen and Liverpool respectively. But their newest goal contributor has been Kroupi, signed in January from sister club Lorient before being loaned back to the then Ligue 2 side. The 19-year-old scored 22 goals in France’s second tier to help them secure promotion.

Kroupi’s first goal for Bournemouth was an injury-time equaliser against Leeds. Then, with Evanilson and Enes Unal injured, he was thrown into the starting XI against Palace and scored twice before netting against Nottingham Forest too, making it four goals in 165 minutes of action.

That is 25 per cent of Bournemouth’s season total. Gannon-Doak and left-back Adrien Truffert, signed from Rennes, have contributed an assist apiece.

Brentford have similarly benefited from the performances of a player signed before the summer of 2025, though Igor Thiago playing 169 league minutes at the end of last season excludes him from selection here. His six goals have been vital to them picking up 13 points from nine matches, the same as 2024-25.

In terms of new faces, Dango Ouattara, signed from Bournemouth for a club-record £42million ($55.6m) including add-ons, scored the winner against Villa and the opener in the 3-2 win over Liverpool. Jordan Henderson has registered two assists too, but Antoni Milambo has played just 45 minutes while Reiss Nelson has not played any.

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Leeds have picked up 11 points in nine matches, the same amount they had at this stage in their impressive 2020-21 campaign when they finished ninth. They had scored 14 goals at this point five years ago, but have netted only nine this time.

Six of those nine (67 per cent) have come from new signings after Leeds saw 12 outfield players leave permanently or on loan. Nine arrived, with five of those — Noah Okafor (two), Anton Stach, Sean Longstaff, Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin — getting on the scoresheet. The only signings not to score are all defenders in Gabriel Gudmundsson, Jaka Bijol, James Justin, and Sebastian Bornauw (yet to play a minute).

Manchester United are right behind them after spending in excess of £200m to revamp their frontline. The results have been encouraging, with United averaging 1.7 goals per match, more than double the 0.8 per match they managed in the final nine league matches of 2024-25.

The match against Brighton could prove to be one we look back at if Mbeumo, Sesko and Cunha continue to work well together. Sesko assisted Mbeumo, who scored another too, while Cunha broke his duck. The three have scored seven of United’s 15 league goals (47 per cent). Mbeumo assisted Mason Mount against Sunderland too.

Burnley have also enjoyed a steady start with 10 points from nine matches, their best in the top flight since 2019-20 (12 points, finished 10th with 54 points). Like this campaign, they scored 12 goals in the first nine games of that season, largely relying on Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes (four goals each), who by that point had both been at the club for several years.

Barnes is back at Turf Moor, but in 2025-26 Burnley have relied on truly new faces. Lesley Ugochukwu, signed from Chelsea, has scored twice. Zian Flemming, who joined from Millwall, netted a double against Wolves, while Loum Tchaouna scored against Leeds.

Left-back Quilindschy Hartman has assisted four times, while Kyle Walker, Hannibal Mejbri and Florentino Luis have added an assist each.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Mohammed Kudus has four assists to his name too and has been one of the league’s best performers. He has scored once, while fellow summer signing Joao Palhinha has chipped in with a goal in one of their best wins of the season against Manchester City and an injury-time equaliser against Wolves. The Portuguese midfielder also assisted Rodrigo Bentancur against Villa and has generally caused chaos from set pieces.

Xavi Simons has recorded an assist but is yet to score, while Randal Kolo Muani is slowly getting up to speed.

On the other side of north London, Arsenal’s excellent start to 2025-26, while down to a miserly defence for the third year running, has been punctuated by promising offensive performances from new signings too.

Viktor Gyokeres has struck three times, while Martin Zubimendi has — surprisingly given his record of just 10 goals in 236 matches for Real Sociedad — scored twice. Eberechi Eze was the most recent addition to that list, scoring against former team Palace over the weekend.

Noni Madueke looked promising on both wings prior to his hamstring injury, while Arsenal’s set-piece prowess should give Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie chances to score too.

Title rivals Liverpool have not enjoyed the same luck.

Three new faces have scored five goals for them, with the impressive Hugo Ekitike netting three of them. Alexander Isak assisted Cody Gakpo against Chelsea and has had chances but is still not at his sharpest. Florian Wirtz got two assists against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League but is still adapting to the Premier League’s physicality, while Jeremie Frimpong is now facing a second spell on the sidelines with a hamstring issue.

Milos Kerkez is another new signing to score, doing so against Brentford. The only other new face to find the back of the net is teenager Ngumoha.

Manchester City did not invest in the same level of attacking riches over the summer, but it briefly looked shrewd. Tijjani Reijnders scored and assisted in their opener against Wolves, while Rayan Cherki also found the net.

Since then, Cherki has missed four games with a thigh injury, while Reijnders has added just one assist — to Erling Haaland against Arsenal. Rayan Ait-Nouri, signed from Wolves, has not featured since August due to an ankle injury.

This has contributed to the increased reliance on Haaland, who has scored 65 per cent of his side’s goals (11 of 17), but City’s problems extend to older members of the squad too.

Omar Marmoush, who was signed from Frankfurt in January and scored seven league goals in the second half of the season, has dealt with a knee injury, restricting him to just 156 minutes. Jeremy Doku and Savinho have threatened from out wide but are yet to score.

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West Ham, Wolves and Nottingham Forest are all in the relegation zone, having scored only 19 combined goals in the Premier League in their 27 matches.

West Ham’s signings were directed towards bolstering their depth at full-back and in midfield, with the acquisitions of El Hadji Malick Diouf, Kayle Walker-Peters, Soungoutou Magassa, and Mateus Fernandes. Malick Diouf has been revelation going forward, creating three of their seven goals, while Fernandes scored a late consolation against Leeds.

Callum Wilson, signed on a free transfer, scored in the 3-0 win over Forest but has been left on the bench for three out of five games since, despite West Ham’s attack floundering.

Forest made a litany of attacking signings who are yet to deliver, with Dan Ndoye the only new signing to score or assist in the league (he has one of each).

Igor Jesus has hit the woodwork twice (joint-most with Gakpo and Woltemade) and scored three times in the Europa League. But Omari Hutchinson, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Jason McAtee, and Dilane Bakwa have played just 464 combined league minutes.

Wolves replaced the consistency they lost in Cunha, Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo with potential. So far, it hasn’t worked.

Jackson Tchatchoua and Tolu Arokodare are raw talents but with high ceilings, as is Fer Lopez, who has one assist in five league games. Left wing-back David Moller Wolfe has shown sparks of promise, even grabbing an assist against Everton, but has played just 150 minutes.

The more experienced names in Jhon Arias and Ladislav Krejci have had different starts to life at the Molineux. Krejci, a defender converted into a midfielder, has offered work rate and a goal threat by crashing the box, getting a goal and an assist, but Arias has struggled to fill Cunha’s shoes.

Sunderland have capitalised on these three teams’ struggles and their own shrewd investments to escape the pre-season relegation predictions and sit in the top four after nine matches. A busy summer, with 12 outfield incomings and as many exits (both permanent and temporary), has paid rich dividends so far.

Chemsdine Talbi netted the winner against Chelsea, assisted by another new signing in Brian Brobbey, while defenders Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete have scored once apiece (with Alderete adding an assist). Granit Xhaka has provided three assists and been their engine in midfield.

Their other new signings have raised the floor of Regis Le Bris’ squad. Noah Sadiki was excellent against Chelsea, Habib Diarra impressed before suffering a groin injury in training in September, and Simon Adingra began the season well too.

Brighton have had a mixed time with their signings, which included defenders Maxim De Cuyper, Olivier Boscagli and Diego Coppola, winger Tommy Watson and strikers Charalampos Kostoulas and Stefanos Tzimas.

Kostoulas and Tzimas, 18 and 19 respectively, seem like long-term bets and have been able to take a backseat with Danny Welbeck starting the season well. Kostoulas scored a late consolation against Manchester United but has played just 12 minutes overall, while Tzimas has been on the pitch for 70. Watson, 19, finds himself on the fringes for now too, having featured for just 31 minutes.

De Cuyper has featured in eight games and scored in the 3-1 win over Chelsea. Boscagli has not played yet while Coppola has received just 17 minutes. But with their defence currently the fourth-worst with 15 goals conceded (only behind West Ham, Wolves, Burnley, and Forest), they might get their chance soon.

Chelsea, by their standards in the Todd Boehly-Clearlake era, had a quieter summer in terms of incomings with 10, focusing more on clearing house with 16 permanent departures and six more on loan.

Alejandro Garnacho’s opener against Sunderland meant he joined Joao Pedro (two goals) and the talented Estevao in scoring for their new club. Liam Delap struggled to have an impact in 93 minutes of action before suffering a hamstring injury. Jamie Gittens, after a slow start, looked sharper in the 3-0 win over Forest on October 18.

Facundo Buonanotte has received just 45 minutes, while Dario Essugo has not played.