Fernando Torres has posted his worst stats this season since he joined the Premier League nearly four years ago. However, in the history of the Premier League, no player has scored more frequently than Torres and he has proven Champions League knockout stage pedigree.
If his poor recent form is down to him being low on motivation and considering that he’s nearly back to full fitness this season, his move to Chelsea should be just the spark he needs to start scoring buckets of goals again, with Chelsea v Liverpool at Stamford Bridge is first assignment.
TORRES IN THE MIDST OF WORST SEASON TO DATE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE
After enjoying his best Liverpool campaign in 2009/10, Torres has slumped dramatically this season, scoring 0.39 goals per game, his worst ratio since making his debut in England’s top-flight. Plagued by injury, he has never played more than 24 games a season since 2008/09 but he should improve on that in 2010/11, having already featured 23 times.
Torres in the Premier League – Premier League
| Season | Apps | Starts | Goals | Assists | Goals per game |
| Season 2007/2008 | 33 | 29 | 24 | 4 | 0.73 |
| Season 2008/2009 | 24 | 20 | 14 | 3 | 0.58 |
| Season 2009/2010 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 3 | 0.82 |
| Season 2010/2011 | 23 | 22 | 9 | 2 | 0.39 |
| Total | 102 | 91 | 65 | 12 | 0.64 |
Nevertheless, the £50 million spent by Chelsea is not a wild shot in the dark. Indeed, over the history of the Premier League, no player has scored more frequently than Torres, with one goal every 121 minutes on average. He’s also been the most prolific goalscorer in the top-flight since 2007/08, with 65 goals, ahead of Carlos Tevez (57) and Dimitar Berbatov (55).
Top 5 Minutes per goal – Premier League
| Player | Minutes/Goal | Goals* | Games Played |
| Torres, Fernando | 121 | 65 | 102 |
| Henry, Thierry | 122 | 174 | 254 |
| van Nistelrooy, Ruud | 128 | 95 | 150 |
| Crespo, Hernán | 141 | 20 | 49 |
| Shearer, Alan | 147 | 260 | 441 |
*Only includes players to have scored 20 or more PL goals
KNOCKOUT STAGES BRING OUT THE BEST IN TORRES
Fernando Torres has a better goalscoring record in the knockout stages of the Champions League than in the group stages.
From the last 16 onwards, Torres has scored five goals in 10 games, that’s a rate of one goal every two games, an impressive return given the pedigree of sides is higher than in the group stages. With Chelsea facing relative minnows FC Copenhagen in the last 16, Torres will be expected to make a quick impression.
Torres in the Champions League – Group vs Knockout stages
| Torres in the CL | Group stages | Knockout stages |
| Games | 11 | 10 |
| Goals | 3 | 5 |
| Goals per game | 0.27 | 0.50 |
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