There were some exceptional performances on Match Day 31 in the Premier League. There were many supporters on our Twitter account surprised that Ashley Young created so many chances on the weekend. The stats don’t lie and Ashley Young created eight chances against Sunderland, two more than his closest rival Samir Nasri created against Newcastle United.
The impressive fact about Nasri’s stats were that he created 3 clear-cut chances on the weekend – more than any other player in the League – an exceptional performance from former Arsenal player.
Speaking of Arsenal they were impressive against Reading with Gervinho creating two goals (the only player to do so this weekend) and also found himself on the scoresheet. Many Arsenal supporters in our Twitter timeline were pleased to see a much improved Gervinho on Saturday – they will hope he continues this form and helps Arsenal to clinch a spot in the Champions League.
Gervinho’s team-mate Mikel Arteta attempted the most passes in the league this weekend: 108. It was the 9th time this season that he has gone past the 100 pass mark in the Premier League and the 10th time in his Arsenal career. Mikel Arteta is also the only player in the league this season to attempt over 100 passes on 9 occasions.
Only two players scored more than a single goal this weekend – Andy Carroll scored an impressive brace – a volley and a header whilst Berbatov was instrumental in Fulham edging out QPR on the Monday Night Football.
Gareth Bale was also instrumental in Tottenham’s win again, as well as his team-mate Vertonghen, as both players scored a goal and claimed a goal assist. Bale’s goal especially was a peach as he smashed the ball into the top left corner of the goal from outside the box. Bale is now only 2 goals behind Robin van Persie (who’s goal drought continues) and has scored a staggering 7 goals from outside the box in the Premier League this season (even more if you count other competitions). In the Premier League 41% of Gareth Bale’s goals are from outside the area – he’s certainly the specialist from distance this season.
Other interesting 2012/13 stats for these players
- 27% of Berbatov’s goals are via penalties
- 60% of Andy Carroll’s goals are via headers
- 41% of Gareth Bale’s goals are from shots taken outside the box
- 2 – Gervinho created 6 goal assists in the Premier League last season, the 2 against Reading were his first this season
- 35% – Mikel Arteta has attempted over 100 passes in 35% of the Premier League games he has started this season
- 30 – Samir Nasri is creating a chance every 30 minutes this season, similar to last season but he has created 38 chances less than last season – substitute.
- 24% – Ashley Young has created 33 chances this season for Manchester United – 24% of them were created this weekend against Sunderland
[box_light]All of the stats from this article have been taken from the Opta Stats Centre at EPLIndex.com – Subscribe Now (Includes author privileges!) Check out our new Top Stats feature on the Stats Centre which allows you to compare all players in the league & read about new additions to the stats centre.[/box_light]
