Stat Heaven: EA Sports Player Performance Index

Want to be the pub/terrace know-all this weekend? Want to know who has committed the most fouls so far this season? Or who has covered the most ground? Then read on and let the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index provide you with enough stats to impress everyone but girly girls.

Saturday 1st September 2012

West Ham v Fulham 12:45

After a promising start to the season with a 1-0 victory over Villa, Swansea brought West Ham back down to earth subjecting them to a 3-0 defeat at the weekend
Mark Noble once again covered the most ground for the Hammers with 6.67 miles
Noble also holds the honour of having attempted the longest shot in the Premier League so far this season, with a hopeful effort of 43 yards
Mohamed Diame was the Hammers’ fastest player on the pitch against Swansea, registering a top speed of 20.4 mph
Diame has also completed the most passes in his opponent’s half so far this season for the Hammers, with 28 passes completed.
That stat puts Sam Allerdyce’s traditional long ball tactic into perspective, as the player who tops the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for passes in his opponent’s half is Yaya Toure with a massive 123, almost 5 times more than Diame. Meanwhile Mark Noble has completed 22 passes backwards and sprayed 562m of long passes around the field so far this season.
Fulham were unlucky to leave Old Trafford empty handed after running United close in a 3-2 defeat
Damien Duff scored and Nemanja Vidic could only head a Matthew Briggs cross into his own net for Fulham’s goals
Briggs registered a top speed of 20.4 miles per hour, only just behind Mladen Petric who was the fastest player on the pitch according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index registering 20.43 miles per hour
Fulham have done well playing from the back so far this season, with defender Aaron Hughes completing more successful passes in the defensive third than any other player with 38
Meanwhile, Mahamadou Diarra has proved the focal point for his team, having received the ball 98 times, the third highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index after Yaya Toure and Mikel Arteta
Mouassa Dembele has also received the ball more often than any other striker in the league with 65 ball receptions, so Fulham must be wary of becoming too predictable in their play and relying on those two players

Mark Noble once again ran for the Hammers cause.

Swansea v Sunderland 15:00

Swansea followed up their 5-0 victory on the first weekend of the season with a 3-0 win on the second, to continue their very impressive start to the season
Goals from Angel Rangel, Miguel Michu and Danny Graham made sure the Swans are second in the Premier League after two games, only behind Chelsea who have a game in hand
Rangel and Michu also topped the charts for distance covered among the Swansea players with 6.3 and 6.15 miles respectively, while Michu was the fastest Swansea player on the pitch registering 20.87 miles per hour
Swansea are also looking strong at the other end of the pitch, with Neil Taylor having won 10 tackles out of the 11 he has attempted, the highest number of tackles won in the league so far this season
Wayne Routledge has the second highest number of assists in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 3, after Chelsea’s Eden Hazard who has six, but has played an extra game to Routledge
Sunderland had their match suspended last weekend due to a waterlogged pitch, leaving the Black Cats to focus their action on the transfer market with the signings of Adam Johnson and Stephen Fletcher
Fletcher was one of the hardest working strikers in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index last season, covering 146.56 miles
Fletcher also scored and impressive 12 goals last season, the third highest scoring British striker in the Premier League last season
Adam Johnson had limited opportunities at Manchester City last season, but still managed to contribute six goals and six assists in the Premier League.
That averages out at a goal or assist every 106 minutes. If we discount players who played less than 1,000 minutes for their clubs last season this make Johnson the 9^th most frequent supplier of goals and / or assists in the Premier League

Tottenham v Norwich 15:00

New Spurs boss Andre Villas Boas is still waiting for his first win with Spurs after a late equaliser meant his team could only manage a 1-1 draw with West Brom
Benoit Assou-Ekotto scored for Spurs, while young star Jake Livermore put in a huge contribution with 7.09 miles covered, the third highest distance covered by an individual player so far this season
Spurs striker Jermain Defoe is a player who divides opinion, but so far this season his shooting stats have matched those of Manchester City hotshot Carlos Tevez. Both have had 11 attempts at goal in the first two games, with 8 on target.
Defoe has also made the second highest number of attacking runs off the ball in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 111, showing the work he does in creating space for his team mates
Norwich came up against QPR at the weekend as both teams looked to bounce back from 5-0 defeats on the opening weekend of the season
The Canaries had to settle for a point in the end, with Simeon Jackson scoring in a 1-1 draw
Anthony Pilkington provided the cross for that goal, and covered 5.9 miles during the game, second only to new signing Robert Snodgrass who covered the most distance for Norwich with 5.97 miles
Snodgrass also delivered seven crosses in the game, the joint highest of the second round of matches, shared with his opponent this weekend Gareth Bale
Meanwhile, midfielder Bradley Johnson has committed more fouls than any other player in the league so far this season with ten
Jonathon Howson has completed more passes in his own half than any other player who will be on display in this game with 42, ahead of Spurs’ Sandro with 39
However, Norwich will need to turn their attacking play into chances to have a chance against Spurs. Only Bradley Johnson has managed more than one shot on target for the Canaries so far this season.

West Brom v Everton 15:00

West Brom snatched a late equaliser to take a point away from White Hart Lane in their last game
James Morrison scored the equaliser for the Baggies, while Graham Dorrans clocked the fastest top speed with 21.6 miles per hour and Liam Ridgewell covered the most distance with 6.05 miles
Gareth McAuley made 7 clearances in the game, the most any player has made in a single game this season
Marouane Fellaini continued his impressive start to the season with a goal in Everton’s 3-1 win over Villa at the weekend
As well as getting on the score sheet for the second game in a row, Fellaini topped the charts for distance covered among the Everton players, clocking up an impressive 6.72 miles in the game
That was just ahead of fellow goal scorer Steven Pienaar who covered 6.61 miles
Overall Everton covered 65.16 miles, the fourth highest for a team in an individual game so far this season
Fellaini also attempted 11 tackles against Villa, the most attempted by a player in a single game this season. That takes his total number of tackles attempted to 17 so far this season, more than any other player. However, looking a little more closely, Fellaini has won just 5 of those tackles and has conceded 7 fouls
Fellaini has also completed 69 passes in his opponent’s half this season, more than any other player who will be on display in the game against West Brom. In fact, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the top five passers on display in this game are all Everton players. The West Brom player to have completed the most passes in his opponent’s half is Claudio Yacob with 38.

Eleventh time lucky for Fellaini?

Wigan v Stoke 15:00

Wigan continued an impressive start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Southampton at the weekend
Goals from Franco and Arouna Kone showed that the Latics can survive without Victor Moses, whose protracted transfer to Chelsea has now been completed
James McArthur covered the most ground for Wigan with 6.43 miles and also registered the fastest top speed with 19.81 miles per hour
Wigan frequently disrupted Southampton’s play in the game, with Caldwell making 16 interceptions and Ivan Ramis making 14, the top two highest number of interceptions by a player in a single game this season
That takes Gary Caldwell’s defensive contributions for that game across tackles, clearances, blocks and interceptions up to 24, the busiest defender in the Premier League last weekend
Meanwhile Ali Al Habsi made ten saves in the game to earn his clean sheet, matching Petr Cech in the first weekend of the season as the most saves made by a keeper so far
At the other end of the pitch, full back Maynor Figueroa has delivered 11 crosses so far this season, more than any other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Stoke held an Arsenal team still to score their first goal since the departure of Robin van Persie to a 0-0 draw at the weekend
Jonathan Walters put in a typically hard working performance as he once again topped the charts for distance covered with 6.68 miles as Stoke out ran the Gunners by 62.37 miles to 60.32 miles
Jermaine Pennant showed the impact playing a former club can have, registering the fastest top speed of any Stoke player with 23 miles per hour, the fourth highest top speed registered by a player so far this season
Martinez’s passing style is apparent when you compare the two team’s stats for passes completed in their own area. The top seven players, when comparing players from both sides, for passes completed are all Wigan players with James McCarthy topping the index with 61 passes in his own area. Jonathan Walters is Stoke’s top passer with 25 passes completed in his own area
However, Stoke have the superior work rate, with the top seven players among the two teams for distance covered all coming from the Potters, topped again by Walters and striker Peter Crouch

Man City v QPR 17:30

Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City were lucky to come away from Anfield with a point at the weekend after a gripping 2-2 draw
Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez were both on target for the blues
Tevez has had 11 shots on target so far this season, with 8 on target and 2 goals. Only Luis Suarez has had more shots at goal, although the Liverpool strikers lack’s Tevez’s accuracy as he has got just 5 of his 12 shots at goal on target
Nigel de Jong covered the most ground for City against Liverpool with 6.36 miles
Overall, City covered 64.23 miles in the game, the fifth highest total for a team in an individual game so far this season
Yaya Toure became the first player to complete over 100 passes in his opponent’s half this season against Liverpool, taking his total to 123 so far. That’s especially impressive considering the second highest total, belonging to Chelsea’s Juan Mata, is 97, 26 behind the City midfielder
Toure has also completed more forward passes than any other player this season with 69, showing the attacking intent which has made City so dangerous over the last two seasons
It’s no wonder that his team mates look to Toure so often, having received the ball more often than any other player this season with 144 ball receptions
QPR bounced back from a 5-0 defeat in their first game to earn a point in a 1-1 draw with Norwich
Bobby Zamora scored for QPR tucking in the rebound from a John Ruddy penalty save, although replays showed he entered the area before Djibril Cisse took his penalty
Jamie Mackie topped the performance data charts for QPR for both overall distance covered and top speed registered, clocking a speed of 21.17 miles per hour and covering 5.69 miles
QPR should be wary that as well as being the league’s most exciting passing team, City also have a high work rate. When comparing the two teams head to head, Ji-Sung Park is the only player that makes the top five for overall distance covered so far this season.
Park also breaks into the top three for passes completed in their opponent’s half, having completed 60 so far this season, behind City’s Yaya Toure with 123 and Samir Nasri with 73

Sunday 2nd September 2012

Liverpool v Arsenal 13:30

Liverpool came close to victory over reigning champions Manchester City after a very promising performance made up for their opening weekend defeat to West Brom
New signing Joe Allen was prominent throughout, and covered the most ground among the Liverpool players with 6.78 miles
That makes Allen’s performance the fifth highest distance covered by a player in an individual game so far this season
Raheem Sterling also looked bright and was second only to Allen with 6.29 miles on the clock
Luis Suarez was on the scoresheet for Liverpool and also registered the fastest top speed among the Liverpool side with 22.78 miles per hour
Suarez has had 12 attempts at goal this season, more than any other player, but he has only got 5 of those on target
Steven Gerrard is second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for crosses delivered with 11 so far this season
Arsenal were held 0-0 by Stoke in their last game
Santi Carzola again looked bright, attempting six shots at goal, the joint highest in the last round of game with North London rival Jermain Defoe
Carzola has now had 9 shots at goal, but is yet the score, the most shots without reward in the league so far this season
Carzola has also completed the third highest number of passes in his opponent’s half with 92, but is yet to register an assist
Arsenal can consider themselves unlucky not to have scored so far this season, having four of the top five players for dribbles completed in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index (Gervinho – 7, Carzola – 6, Walcott – 5, Arteta – 4)
Arsenal also have three players in the top five for forward passes this season (Mertesacker – 64, Arteta – 58, Vermaelen – 49) as fans must rue no longer having van Persie to get on the end of their impressive attacking play

Sterling has impressed since his promotion.

Newcastle v Aston Villa 16:00

Newcastle were helpless to prevent Chelsea beating them 2-0 in their last game, as goals from Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres condemned them to defeat
New Newcastle signing Vernun Anita gave away a penalty in the game for Chelsea’s first goal, but worked hard to make amends covering more ground than any other Newcastle player with 6.32 miles
Demba Ba was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet and also clocked the fastest top speed among the Newcastle squad with 20.15 mph
Young defender James Perch came of age last season amongst Newcastle’s defensive injury crisis, and he has now completed more successful passes in the attacking third than any other defender with 29
Karim El-Ahmadi scored a consolation goal for Villa at the weekend in their 3-1 loss to Everton, and also covered more ground than any other Villa player with 6.7 miles
Despite the result, Villa’s overall distance covered 65.88 miles against Everton, the second furthest distance covered by a team so far this season
The performances of young full back Matthew Lowton have also been a plus, as he has made more attacking runs off the ball than any other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance index with 112, one more than spurs striker Jermain Defoe
El-Ahmadi has been a positive among a difficult start to the season, and Newcastle will need to watch out for the midfielder. Comparing the two teams head to head, El-Ahmadi has completed more passes in his opponent’s area than any other player with 45, just ahead of Newcastle’s Hatem Ben Arfa who has completed 40 passes in his opponent’s half
The top five players for tackles won, when comparing the two teams head to head, are also all Villa players, led by Nathan Baker with 8. Newcastle’s top tackler is, surprisingly, Jonas Gutierrez who has won 4 tackles so far this season

Southampton v Man Utd 16:00

Southampton lost 2-0 to an impressive looking Wigan side last weekend
However, one bright point was the performance of Morgan Schneiderlin who covered an incredible 7.29 miles in the game. That followed his 7.31 miles against Man City, meaning he holds first and second position in the EA SPORTS Performance Index for distance covered in a single game
Adam Lallana has covered the second highest amount of ground after Schneiderlin in both games so far this season, and against Wigan he also registered the fastest top speed of any Southampton player with 19.05 mph
Southampton’s overall team distance covered of 65.35 miles is the third furthest registered by a team so far this season
Manchester United are making a habit of nervy victories this season, after scraping a 3-2 win over Fulham last weekend
Robin van Persie scored on his full debut for United and covered 5.99 miles for United, second only to Tom Cleverley who covered an impressive 6.4 miles
Cleverley also completed 46 passes in the Fulham half, the most of any player in the last round of games
Meanwhile Antonio Valencia was the fastest player for United, registering a top speed of 19.8 miles per hour
Comparing the two teams head to head, the top five players for passes completed in their opponent’s half are all United players, led by Cleverley who has completed 90 passes in his opponent’s half so far this season, the fourth highest of any player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Adam Lallana is Southampton’s top passer, but he has completed just over half the number of Cleverley with 50 passes in his opponent’s half
However, United, may have problems passing through Southampton’s team with Morgan Schneiderlin and Jos Hooiveld having each made 13 interceptions so far this season

The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index is the official playing rating index of the Premier League. Click here for more information.