Want to be the pub/terrace know-all this weekend? Want to know who has committed the most fouls? Or who has covered the most ground? Which player has provied the most crosses and who last week put in a true captain’s performance? Then read on and let the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index arm you with enough stats to impress everyone but girly girls.
Saturday 27th October 2012
Aston Villa v Norwich 12:45
Aston Villa hover just above the relegation zone after a 1-0 defeat to Fulham in their last league game
Villa have now scored just 6 goals in 8 games this season, with Darren Bent scoring two having had 15 attempts at goal with 9 on target. That puts Bent on a shot every 40 minutes 48 seconds, a sign that the England striker may be struggling for service when compared to Jermain Defoe’s rate of a shot every 17 minutes 47 seconds
Villa’s frustrations are spilling on to the pitch with Karim El Ahmadi and Eric Lichaj two of five players on four yellow cards so far this season
El Ahmadi has attempted 39 tackles this season, winning just 15 of them and giving away 17 fouls
Young defender Ciaran Clark is currently Aston Villa’s highest ranked player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index having won half of his 18 attempted tackles and made 15 clearances, 20 interceptions and 10 blocks
Norwich secured a famous victory over Arsenal in their last game, overcoming the Gunners 1-0
Grant Holt scored the winner for Norwich, while Michael Turner drew praise from coach Chris Hughton
That was Holt’s third Premier League goal of the season, having had 13 efforts at goal with 8 on target
Turner has won 8 or 17 tackles attempted this season and also made 15 interceptions, 2 blocks, and 6 clearances
Bradley Johnson has been typically industrious this season, and has made more clearances than any other midfielder in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 11
Johnson’s 6.28 miles against Arsenal was enough to lift him into the top ten for overall distance covered this season, taking his total covered to 48.38 miles
John Ruddy is now ranked second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s busiest goalkeepers, having made 45 saves, just one short of Wigan’s Ali Al Habsi.
Nine of those saves came against Arsenal, as Ruddy had his busiest game of the season to keep the Gunners at bay.
Arsenal v QPR 15:00
Arsenal suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Norwich in their last Premier League encounter
Despite that result, Santi Carzola has extended his lead in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s category for most passes completed in his opponent’s half with 384, while Mikel Arteta has now also overtaken Yaya Toure to go into second place with 357 passes completed in his opponent’s half. Carzola is now averaging less than two minutes per pass completed in his opponent’s half.
Arteta made 65 of his 357 passes in the game against Norwich, the fourth best passing performance in a single game this season. Meanwhile Clarindo Andre Santos made an impressive 54 passes in his opponent’s half, second only to Arteta in last weekend’s games. Carzola’s 50 meant that the top three passing performances last weekend were all Arsenal players, yet they still could not break down the stubborn Norwich defence.
Olivier Giroud’s struggles in front of goal have been closely monitored by Arsenal fans. The French striker has had 18 attempts at goal, but just 44% have been on target and just one has resulted in a goal.
QPR produced a performance which defied their position at the bottom of the Premier League to secure a 1-1 draw with Everton in their last game
Junior Hoillett scored for QPR while Bobby Zamora and Adel Taarabt also impressed, while Ryan Nelson’s performance has seen him jump to joint top in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for blocks made with 12 overall
Esteban Granero continues to impress for QPR. He completed 41 passes in the Everton half in the last game, the third best passing performance by a QPR player this season. Granero himself holds the top slot for that with 49 against West Brom
Julio Cesar was unlucky to concede an own goal in the game. Cesar made five saves in that game to make it his second busiest game of the season
Reading v Fulham 15:00
Reading lost 1-0 to Liverpool in their last league game, despite Gareth McLeary and Jobi McAnuff both threatening the Liverpool goal
McAnuff has four assists so far this season, meaning he has set up half of Reading’s eight goals this season
Adrian Mariappa did his best to disrupt Liverpool’s play, making 19 interceptions, putting him joint fifth for interceptions in a single game this season. He also made four blocks, joint second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for blocks in a game.
Despite Liverpool largely dominating the game, Mikele Leigertwood contributed the third best passing display by a Reading player this season, completing 20 passes in the Liverpool half. Leigertwood himself holds top spot with 23 passes against West Brom.
Meanwhile Alex McCarthy in goal impressed making ten saves in total, also joint fifth for saves in a game this season
Chris Baird scored the solitary goal as Fulham beat Aston Villa 1-0 to extend an impressive run at Craven Cottage
Baird has had more involvement defensively than offensively this season, making an impressive 28 interceptions and won 8 of their 13 tackles
Baird also covered the most ground for Fulham in that game with 6.41 miles, the third highest individual total of a Fulham player this season
Baird’s goal came from a John Arne Riise corner, his fourth assist of the season and a contribution which lifted the Norwegian to 13th in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Hugo Rodallega must be hoping for a change in fortune, as Fulham’s new signing has had an impressive 23 efforts at goal with 65% on target but has just one Premier League goal for his troubles this season. Rodallega must be hoping the goals start coming soon, starting against Reading.
Mark Schwarzer continues to impress, the experienced goalkeeper is joint second among the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s busiest goalkeepers having made 45 saves so far this season
Stoke v Sunderland 15:00
Stoke played their part in an entertaining encounter against Manchester United last weekend, in which United came out 4-2 winners
A Rooney own goal from a Charlie Adam free kick put the Potters ahead, before United went 3-1 up, just to have the deficit reduced by a Michael Kightly goal, and then restored again by Rooney
Charlie Adam put in the joint top passing performance by a Stoke player in a single game this season against Man Utd, completing 21 passes in the United half. That’s the joint top by a Stoke player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index alongside Glen Whelan’s 21 pass performance in the game against Chelsea
Adam also set a season high for the distance covered by an individual in a single game this season, covering 6.99 miles against Manchester United and inspiring Stoke to a team total of 66.68 miles, their highest as a team all season and the second highest by any team in a single match this season
Kightly’s stats in front of goal continue to impress, having had ten shots on target to just one off target, and two goals already this season
Sunderland took a point in the North East derby via a deflected Demba Ba own goal. Sebastian Larsson delivered a typically dangerous free kick which was headed on by John O’Shea before being deflected into his own net by Ba
The motivation of the North East derby clearly had an impact on Sunderland’s passing, as the top four individual passing performances from a Sunderland player were all taken from that last game. Larsson (36), Gardner (33), Colback (31) and Rose (29) rewrote Sunderland’s passing statistics for the season becoming their top four for passes completed in their opponent’s half in a game this season.
Larsson was dangerous in his deliveries for Sunderland last season, but has had to concentrate on defensive duties this season and has put in more tackles (19, of which he has won 11) than he has crossed (13)
Wigan v West Ham 15:00
A superb improvised finish by Emerson Boyce was not enough to secure victory for Wigan against Swansea in their last game
Arouna Kone thought he had equalized the scores to 2-2, but his effort was ruled out for offside
Kone is second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for dribbles completed so far this season, with 13, behind only Luis Suarez with 21
Ali Al Habsi also made an attempt to be the hero, but going up for a final corner and seeing his header saved by counterpart Michel Vorm. Al Habsi has now taken top spot in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for saves so far this season with 46, just one ahead of Norwich’s John Ruddy
James McArthur and James McCarthy continue to impress in the centre of the park this season. Both are in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s top ten for tackles won with 25 and 21 respectively, and are also the top midfielders for interceptions with 40 and 36 respectively.
West Ham saw off fellow newly promoted side Southampton 4-1 in their last game. Two goals from Mark Noble plus goals from Kevin Nolan and Mobido Maiga gave West Ham a crucial victory
Nolan now has four goals so far this season, second only to Swansea’s Michu among midfield goal scorers. He also has two assists to his name, meaning Nolan has had a hand in half of West Ham’s goals so far this season
Nolan’s goals have come from 21 attempts at goal, with an impressive 67% of those on target, while his 6.1 miles against Southampton took his season’s total distance covered to 48.58 miles, the 7th highest overall in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Mark Noble’s goals were just rewards for an impressive start to the season. Noble has won 24 tackles this season, the third highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Man City v Swansea 17:30
Two late goals from Edin Dzeko prevented a shock against West Brom in their last game
Those were Dzeko’s fourth and fifth goals of the season, scored from just 18 efforts at goal with an impressive on target percentage of 61%. Dzeko’s goals have come from just 307 minutes, an incredible rate of a goal every 61 minutes 48 seconds for City this season. No other player (excluding those with just one or less goals this season) has a better strike rate.
Mario Ballotelli, however, has had very contrasting fortunes. He has had more attempts at goal without scoring (16) than any other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
City had been reduced to ten men early on after James Milner was sent off for fouling Shane Long when through on goal
Milner had previously won 5 of his 8 attempted tackles this season and given away just four fouls, so he may feel unlucky to have been red carded
Swansea beat Wigan 2-1 in their last game, with goals from joint Premier League top goal scorer Michu and record signing Pablo Hernandez
Michu is joint with Robin van Persie and Demba Ba in the Premier League goal scorer charts, and has needed 20 efforts to net his six goals this season, compared to van Persie’s economical 17 and Ba’s more wasteful 30
As well as his goals, Michu has completed 148 passes in his opponent’s half and has attempted 37 tackles, although he has won just 14 of them
Hernandez’ goal was his first in the Premier League, having previously had 7 shots at goal with just 3 on target, averaging a shot every 36 minutes in his time on pitch so far this season
Swansea covered 61.8 miles as a team this season, the most they have covered in a single game all season
Sunday 28th October 2012
Everton v Liverpool 13:30
Everton needed a stroke of luck against QPR in their last game to leave with a point, with their equalizing goal coming from a Sylvain Distin header which rebounded off the base of the post and in off QPR keeper Julio Cesar.
This Merseyside derby will see the top two crossers in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index go head to head. Leighton Baines has delivered 41 crosses while Steven Gerrard has delivered 37, with each being credited two assists.
Baines and Gerrard are also two of the top three Englishmen in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for passing, with 224 and 261 passes completed in their opponent’s half respectively. Tellingly for English football, Gerrard who is the top English player for passes completed is still over 100 passes behind Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Santi Carzola who has completed 384 passes
New Everton signing Kevin Mirallas is surely due a change of luck soon, and must be hoping the Merseyside derby will be the place for it. The striker has had 24 shots on goal with an impressive 71% on target, but has just one goal for his efforts this season.
Phil Jagielka impressed for Everton against QPR, and has now jumped up to third in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for clearances having made 17 in 8 games so far this season
Raheem Sterling continued his coming of age as he scored the only goal as Liverpool beat Reading 1-0 in their last game
Glen Johnson has had a typically attacking start to the season, and has had 13 efforts at goal, more than any other defender in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Luis Suarez continues to terrorise defenders by running at them this season. Suarez has completed 21 dribbles more than any other player and 8 ahead of second place Arouna Kone
Suarez had nine shots at goal against Reading, the joint second highest for a player in any one game this season. Tellingly, however, only three were on target
Brad Jones, deputizing for Pepe Reina against Reading, must have felt that he drew the short straw coming into that game. The eight saves he made was the most either Liverpool keeper has had to make this season.
The 61.98 miles covered by Liverpool as a squad in that game was their second highest total this season, led by Joe Allen’s 6.67 miles, the third highest from an individual Liverpool player this season and enough to keep him second in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for overall distance covered with 50.73 miles.
Steven Gerrard is also in the index’s top ten for distance covered with 48.43 miles covered, enough for 8th place
Newcastle v West Brom 15:00
Yohan Cabaye scored Newcastle’s only goal as they drew 1-1 with North East rivals Sunderland
Cabaye has been in providing more than goal scoring mood this season, delivering 30 crosses, the third highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Cheick Tiote was sent off in a typically competitive derby fixture, while Fabricio Coloccini put in a defensive masterclass which manager Alan Pardew likened to watching Bobby Moore. Coloccini won 3 of his 4 attempted tackles and also contributed two blocks to the defensive cause.
Demba is joint top goalscorer in the Premier League this season with six goals this season. However it has taken Ba 30 efforts at goal to reach that total, while rivals Robin van Persie and Michu have needed just 17 and 20 efforts at goal respectively to reach that total. Ba has had just 47% of his shots on target so far this season.
Meanwhile fellow Senegalese striker Papiss Cisse continues his wait for his first Premier League goal of the season. He has had 16 shots at goal without scoring, the joint highest so far this season.
West Brom came close to causing a huge upset in their last game, leading reigning Premier League champions Man City 1-0 up until the 80th minute
Shane Long had put the high flying Baggies 1-0 up in the 67th minute, while Romelu Lukaku could have extended their lead with a spectacular overhead kick if it wasn’t for an equally spectacular save from Joe Hart
Long’s goal was his third of the season from an economical 11 attempts at goal with five on target. Lukaku, meanwhile, has two goals this season from 14 attempts on goal and has had an admirable 12 of those on target so far. Lukaku has average a shot every 18 minutes 17 seconds, the fifth best minutes per shot rating in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Ben Foster made eight saves during the game to try and keep Man City at bay, his busiest goalkeeping performance of the season
Southampton v Tottenham 15:00
Southampton were swept aside 4-1 by an impressive second half performance from West Ham in their last Premier League game
A consolation goal from Adam Lallana wasn’t enough to prevent defeat, and Southampton’s goals conceded column now reads 21 from 8 games
Lallana’s first goal of the season came after 14 efforts at goal with 8 on target so far. Lallana also has an impressive four assists, coming having delivered 16 crosses and completed 179 passes in his opponents half
Despite Southampton’s poor run of form, Morgan Schneiderlin continues to impress in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. He has now won more tackles than any other player with 28 won and just 13 lost, to add to his impressive stats on distance covered. 7 of those tackles won were in the game against West Ham as Schneiderlin tried to prevent the oncoming West Ham attack.
Spurs looked at one stage like defeating league leaders Chelsea in their last game, going 2-1 up through goals from William Gallas and Jermain Defoe before capitulating to a 4-2 loss
Defoe’s impressively confident start to the season under Andre Villas Boas continues, and his goal was his fifth of the season coming from 40 shots at goal with 60% on target. Only Luis Suarez has had more attempts this season, but the Liverpool striker falls behind Defoe on accuracy having got only 47% on target
Spurs midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson was prolific at Swansea last season, but has yet to score in the Premier League so far for Spurs. Sigurdsson has had 16 attempts at goal without scoring, the joint highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Sigurdsson did, however, cover more ground against Chelsea than any Spurs player has in a single game this season – something he did regularly for Swansea. Sigurdsson covered 7.05 miles in total, inspiring Spurs to cover their highest cumulative distance of the season with 65.31 miles. That performance by Sigurdsson was the 7th most distance covered by an individual game this season
Chelsea v Man Utd 16:00
Chelsea and Manchester United occupy the top two slots in the Premier League this season, and Sunday game already looks like a potential turning point in the title race
Despite a disappointing Champions League outing in the week, Chelsea’s Premier League form has been dominant. Last weekend they dispatched Spurs 4-2, with goals from Gary Cahill, a brace from Juan Mata, and the final goal from Daniel Sturridge
That performance means Chelsea now have four of the top five ranked players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, with Juan Mata now sitting in top spot ahead of Fernando Torres in 2nd, Eden Hazard in 3rd, and Branislav Ivanovic in 5th.
Mata now has three goals and five assists to his name and has completed 271 passes in his opponents half. That’s the fifth highest number of passes overall in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
Mata covered 6.95 miles against Spurs, the most by a Chelsea player in a single game so far this season, while Ramires 6.69 miles in the same game was the second highest, and the 64.62 miles as a squad the most by Chelsea as a team so far this season
Cahill will increasingly be in the spotlight as John Terry serves his four match ban. Cahill already has two goals to his name this season, and has made an impressive six blocks
With Cahill’s defensive team mates Branislav Ivanovic scoring three and Ashley Cole also on the score sheet in the Premier League so far this season that means six of Chelsea’s eighteen goals have come courtesy of their defenders this season
Brazilian wonder kid Oscar has netted twice in the Champions League this season but is still to find the net in the Premier League competition. Oscar has had 13 attempts at goal without scoring, including nine on target. No other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index has had so many shots on target without a goal.
Manchester United were also 4-2 victors in their last game, beating Stoke. Rooney scored twice with his first goals for United this Premier League season (as well as putting into his own net) while Robin van Persie and Danny Wellbeck added to the scoreline.
Van Persie remains joint top goalscorer in the Premier League with an impressive six goals from eight games. Van Persie’s goals have come from 17 shots at goal. His rivals for the golden boot, Michu and Demba Ba, are both also on six goals this season, but have required 20 and 30 efforts at goal respectively to reach that total
Van Persie has a shots on target percentage of just 47% percent, but still has one of the best minutes per goal ratios in the league with one every 106 minutes and 40 seconds so far this season. Frighteningly, that means if the Dutch striker can get more of his efforts on target then his goal scoring rate can improve even further.
Paul Scholes picked up his fourth yellow card in just 440 minutes of play this season against Stoke, though the midfielder may consider his reputation has gone before him as he had committed just nine fouls for those cards compared to Aston Villa’s Karim El Ahmadi who has committed 17 fouls and received four yellow cards
Rooney looked determined for United, and his 6.75 miles against Stoke was the joint highest distance covered by a United player in a single game this season. Meanwhile Carrick’s 6.63 miles was enough to put him fourth overall in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for distance covered with 49.56 miles