With two weekends remaining in the Premier League, Manchester City are top of the table and Mohamed Salah is leading the scoring charts. It might feel familiar but this campaign has been nothing like last season in reality. As well as offering a two-horse title race in which both sides keep refusing to blink, it has thrown up plenty of statistical surprises. Here are a handful that sounded very unlikely before the season began, starting between the sticks.
David de Gea is human
Goalkeepers and strikers tend to be highlighted as the players who endure the greatest fluctuation in form but De Gea was consistently superb last season. He raised a bar few thought that he possibly could. This season, however, has been a different story. His recent hellish run of high-profile errors has brought his dip in form to light but, in truth, De Gea has been short of his best for a while now.
In 2017-18, he did not commit a single error that led directly to a goal in the league; this season he has done so on four occasions. Only Asmir Begovic and Bernd Leno (both five) have been more error prone. On top of that, De Gea has kept only seven clean sheets this season; he racked up a league-high 18 last season. He has made 13 appearances for club and country since his last clean sheet – a goalless draw with Liverpool back in February.
Phil Jones is the pass master
De Gea’s struggles this season have been attributed in part to the defense in front of him, with Phil Jones often singled out for criticism. His buccaneering approach to defending is not always popular, but the accuracy of his passing cannot be called into question. Jones has completed 93.1 percent of his passes this season. Even though he keeps his distribution fairly simple, that percentage is still impressive. When compared against players who have made at least 10 league appearances this season, only John Stones – a defender renowned for his composure – boasts a better pass completion rate (94.2 percent) than Jones.
A center-back is out in front for through balls
The ability to play a pass through a tight space is something we usually associate with a No. 10. Last season Kevin De Bruyne played the most accurate through balls (16); this season Gylfi Sigurdsson (11) and Christian Eriksen (10) are in the top three. Top of the pile, however, is one David Luiz, who has found the runs of his more advanced teammates on 12 occasions this season. Strangely, he has not completed a single through ball in his last 10 appearances in the league but is out in front because he racked up seven in an eight-match spell beforehand.
N’Golo Kanté has a new look
Having made a name for himself as the best ball-winning midfielder in the league, if not the world, Kanté has been asked to play a very different role this season. The Frenchman still hounds opponents and regains possession, but he is doing so in a different area of the pitch.
Only Mohamed Salah (37) has won the ball back in the attacking third of the pitch more times than Kanté this season. Kanté has won possession in the final third 35 times – which is already 15 more than he managed last season.
Ryan Fraser puts it on a plate
Ryan Fraser shares the lead for assists in the Premier League this season, with his total of 13 one more than he managed in his previous five league campaigns combined. One telling statistic shows it is no fluke. The Scotland international is out on his own when it comes to creating “big chances”. His total of 25 is a massive nine clear of Hazard in second in the Premier League; it is more than Huddersfield (24) have managed all season; and it is fewer only than Lionel Messi (33) in Europe’s top five leagues.
Paul Pogba is finding the target
To say that Paul Pogba’s shooting was wayward last season would be an understatement. Pogba had 76 shots and just 18 of them – 23.7 percent – were on target, which put him 13th when it came to taking shots but 51st when it came to hitting them on target. Of the 51 players who attempted at least 50 shots last season, only two were less accurate than Pogba.
Fast forward to this season and, all of a sudden, Pogba cannot stop hitting his shots on target. The Manchester United midfielder has leaped from 51st all the way up to second in the rankings. Mohamed Salah is the only player with more shots on target this season. Pogba’s current tally of 49 is almost treble his total last season and his shot accuracy is now 50 percent – more than double what it was last season.
A Fulham forward is firing blanks
Given that Salah is top of the charts for goals and shots on target, it is hardly surprising that he is also top of the pile for shots. What is surprising is that Aleksandar Mitrovic is second on that list. The Fulham striker has taken 127 shots this season – just one fewer than Salah. He does not quite have the same scoring record though; Salah has 21 goals, Mitrovic just 11.
The 24-year-old is Fulham’s top scorer by a distance, but his profligacy has become problematic – particularly in recent months. His match-winner at Bournemouth a fortnight ago was his first goal in 10 games and he has scored with only 8.7 percent of his shots. To put that in some context, Salah has scored with 16.4 percent of his.
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