Kevin De Bruyne will be looking to surpass Steven Gerrard's Premier League assist tally when Manchester City welcome rivals Manchester United to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The 31-year-old, who is regarded as one the best playmakers in world football, provided two assists in City's comfortable 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out.
De Bruyne now has six assists to his name after seven Premier League appearances this season, more than any other player in the division, and he is just two behind his total of eight from 30 top-flight games last term.
The Belgium international has notched up a total of 92 Premier League assists, which puts him joint-seventh on the all-time list along with Liverpool legend Gerrard.
De Bruyne, who has remarkably reached the same tally as Gerrard in 287 fewer games, will move ahead of the former England captain if he sets up one of his Man City teammates in the Manchester derby this weekend.
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Providing one assist would also see him draw level with Citizens legend David Silva (93) in sixth place on the all-time list for assists and move just one behind former Arsenal star Dennis Bergkamp (94) in fifth place.
De Bruyne should have no problems in surpassing all three players at some stage this season, and he will soon set his sights on becoming only the fifth player in Premier League history to record 100 assists in the competition.
Ryan Giggs currently tops the all-time assist charts with a whopping 162 assists during his trophy-laden 24-year career at Man United.
Cesc Fabregas sits in second place with 111 assists, while Wayne Rooney (103) and Frank Lampard (102) make up the top four.
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Should De Bruyne stay fit for the majority of this season, the Belgian will also look to break the record for the most Premier League assists within a single season.
His impressive tally of 20 assists during the 2018-19 campaign is the joint record for a single Premier League season along with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry back in 2002-03.
De Bruyne began the 2022-23 campaign in fine form as he provided an assist in each of his first three top-flight matches, including a through-ball for Erling Braut Haaland to net on his Premier League debut in the 2-0 win against West Ham United on the opening weekend of the season.
After drawing a blank against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, De Bruyne then laid on three assists in two games in September, and he has subsequently been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award.
De Bruyne and co currently sit second in the Premier League table, one point behind leaders Arsenal and five clear of Man United in fifth.
Oliver Thomas
