Why hasn’t Bruno Fernandes equalled the record for assists in a Prem season? Confusion explained… | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes needed one more assist to match the record for the most by one player in a Premier League season ahead of Manchester United‘s clash with Liverpool on Sunday.

Fernandes began the day with 19 assists to his name in the league this season, just one short of the 20 that Thierry Henry managed in the 2002-03 season for Arsenal and Kevin De Bruyne matched with Manchester City in 2019-20.

And Fernandes promptly played a part in setting up United’s second goal against Liverpool, which was scored by Benjamin Sesko.

The official Fantasy Premier League account credited Fernandes with the assist after his header across goal went on to be converted by Sesko.

But with Liverpool’s stand-in keeper Freddie Woodman appearing to get a touch on the ball in between, it hasn’t been listed as an assist in the official data.

So, was it an assist or not?

The reason the FPL have said so is down to a rule change in their game ahead of the current season, which was brought in to simplify the subjective nature of assists.

According to the FPL website: “Until now, players have NOT been awarded a Fantasy assist if their pass or cross was deflected by an opponent away from the intended target or destination.

“In 2025/26, the intended target or destination of a pass will no longer matter and a Fantasy assist WILL be awarded when the following two criteria are fulfilled:

Those two criteria were met in this instance, since Sesko was in the box and Woodman only touched it once with his hand.

In fact, with the above in mind, Fernandes was already on 20 FPL assists before kick off against Liverpool. His set-up for Sesko’s goal counted as his 21st in the game.

But for official data providers like Opta, the touch in between by Woodman was enough to ensure Fernandes’ assist does not count.

As such, his wait to match the record goes on.