There was a period of time in the early 2000's when Jamie Carragher seemed to be scoring own goals at Jamie Vardy levels of frequency. A couple of high profile examples against the likes of Man United ensured Carragher was firmly tarred with the brush of being the Premier League's own goal king.
In reality we all know the Premier League's own goal king is Richard Dunne. He's long since wrestled the crown away from Carragher and now the Sky Sports pundit in chief has also lost another record. He can't even claim to be Liverpool's greatest own goalscorer after Martin Skrtel's intervention against Newcastle on Sunday.
A 7th PL own goal for Martin Skrtel, now equal with @Carra23 - the joint most in the PL for Liverpool pic.twitter.com/nzhWbm7U4b
— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) December 6, 2015
It would be a shame if Carragher was too lose that record entirely considering how his name is so indelibly linked with Premier League own goals but he seemed to take it in his stride.
The only positive of the day! https://t.co/OtvvWP7Yor
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) December 6, 2015
Carragher and Skrtel are now joint second in the Premier League own-goal table but the Slovakian is going to have to really up his game if he's to catch the main man himself. Carragher and Skrtel are own-goal amateurs when you take into account Richard Dunne's almost unassailable 10 Premier League goals.
All joking aside, it is very interesting to see the kind of players at the top of the table. Dunne, Carragher and Skrtel are all of the 'no nonsense' school of defending. We're not sure what it is but we're assuming there must be some reason as to why the likes of Daniel Agger don't send one past their own keeper quite so often. Some might call it ability or positional awareness but we know the truth.
'Ball playing central defenders' just don't have the stomach to do what the likes of Dunne and Carragher do. They're willing to put their reputations on the line even when physics suggests they shouldn't. With that entirely scientific reasoning, we feel confident in stating that his position at the top of the own-goal charts dictates that Richard Dunne is the best central defender in Premier League history.
