To date Darren Bent has scored 81 Premier League goals in 186 appearances at a rate of 1 every other games (178 minutes). His record in cup competitions is equally impressive having scored 3 in 7 in the FA Cup (1 every 183 minutes), 4 in 6 in the League Cup (every 103 minutes) and 6 in 14 in the UEFA Cup (every 160 minutes).
CHARLTON ATHLETIC
In his first full season in the Premier League with Charlton having signed from Ipswich for £2.5m, he scored 18 goals in 36 games, the third most in the league behind Thierry Henry and Ruud van Nistelrooy at just 21. His goals to minutes ratio was 1 in 176, just under 1 in 2. In his second season at the club he finished 6th in the Premier League scoring charts with 13 goals in 32 appearances despite the club being relegated. In 72 games in total for the club he scored 33 times at an average of 1 every 194 minutes.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
His excellent record was enough to win him a £16.5m move to Tottenham after turning down the chance to join West Ham. His first season at Tottenham was his least prolific, having to make the most of coming off the bench for much of the season, behind the likes of Berbatov and Keane. In his 6 seasons in the Premier League, Darren Bent has been outside the top 10 goalscoring charts just once, in 2007/08 and his first season for Tottenham. This was mainly due getting limited chances to start at White Hart Lane and he still netted every 193 minutes, just over 1 in 2, with 6 goals in just 11 starts having only played four full games all season. In the 2008/09 season he was Spurs’ top scorer following the departure of Dimitar Berbatov and finished 7th in the Premier League top scorers list with 12 goals in 33 appearances, only 21 of which were starts. The club went on to freeze Bent out of the squad, signing Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe from Portsmouth. Despite his goals record having dropped he netted 25 goals in 78 games for Tottenham at a rate of 1 every 179 minutes (2 games), better than his rate at Charlton
SUNDERLAND
A £10m move to Steve Bruce’s Sunderland in 2009 was to be the revival of the 26-year-old’s career. He scored a massive 24 goals in 38 games having played all but 30 minutes of the Premier League, topped only by outstanding seasons for Dider Drogba and Wayne Rooney. His goals to minutes ratio was the best of his career with 1 every 141 minutes, just over 1 and a half matches! His fantastic achievement earned him a place in England’s provisional 30 man World Cup squad though he was not chosen for the final 23, Capello = mug! He scored a brace on four occasions and netted a hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Bolton. This campaign, after a slight lull of late, Bent remains in 10th position in the scoring charts with 8 league goals in 19 games. He has also scored 4 in 4 in the rest of his appearances this season. His record for the Black Cats is well below 1 in 2 having scored 36 goals in 62 games at a ratio of 1 every 152 minutes!
ENGLAND
The international scene is the only step up that Bent has struggled to make. At Under-21 level he scored an impressive 8 goals in 14 games though the move to the senior squad was more difficult. Bent did however, score his first international goal in September last year, coming on as a sub in the 3-1 win over Switzerland.
ASTON VILLA???!!!