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After 23 games in the Premier League, we can safely pick the best players who have been the best of the lot. It comes as no surprise to see Chelsea and Manchester City battling it out for the title at the moment with the league’s top scorers from both clubs – Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero.But most of their goals this season can be attributed to players positioned behind them in attack. It is the playmakers who make the ball tick and provide goal scoring chances. We take a look at the top five playmakers in the EPL this season.
#5 Stewart Downing - West Ham
When Kenny Dalglish signed Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll for Liverpool, it was because he trusted a statistician and was misguided. But the pair who now play for West Ham are making things happen for the Hammers, proving the statistician right.
Downing likes to play centrally and that’s what Sam Allardyce has been doing. He has deployed the ex-Liverpool player as a central midfielder or as a central attacking midfielder. Either way, Downing has come handy for West Ham. He has seven assists and has scored five times.
He completes 85% of the passes every game and it is quite an achievement given the fact that the Hammers tend to play off the ball. He also tries around 2.8 key passes each game. He likes to control the game from deeper positions and spread out passes to cleverly pick out his teammates. He has been more successful as a central midfielder than an attacking one, assisting 4 times from deeper positions. He also has the ability to find the forwards with long balls. He tries 3.5 long balls every game.
Crossing is one of Downing’s stand-out characteristics. It was his ability to put in accurate crosses that tempted Liverpool to make a move for him. For West Ham, he puts in 2.8 crosses every game. If it involves playing the ball off the ground, which is the suitable style for West Ham to pick out the tall strikers, then Downing is the perfect player for that.
His performances may have dipped, but his contributions in the earlier matches have put the Hammers in a very good position in the League. West Ham has a long way to go this season. And yhey will be happy to see Downing come back to his best form.
#4 Gylfi Sigurdsson - Swansea
Playing as the central attacking midfielder in Garry Monk’s system, the Icelandic playmaker has made complete use of his physical abilities in addition to his skills on the ball, to devastate the opposition teams. Standing tall at 186cm, Gylfi Sigurdsson, has assisted 8 times this season.
Compared to last season, Sigurdsson has improved a lot. At Tottenham, he made defense piercing runs and was more of a goal scorer there than a creator and netted the ball five times.
He has paired well with both the strikers of Swansea – Wilfred Bony and Bafetimbi Gomis. With Bony, Sigurdsson plays clever passes. His approach is more direct when it comes to Gomis, which suits the striker’s style of play. With 2.7 key passes and 0.4 long balls per game this season, he has accustomed well to both strikers (now one after Bony’s switch to Manchester City).
Sigurdsson makes 1.2 interceptions and 1.1 tackles every game and helps Swansea in winning the ball around the half line region and launching swift counter attacks. He has proven himself to be a good passer of the ball, and even under pressure, he completes 86% of the attempted passes.
#3 Santi Cazorla
Earlier this season, Santi Cazorla was out of form and it was a torrid time for the Gunners with Mesut Ozil also out injured. Luckily for the Gunners, the Spanish midfielder found his touch again by midseason. From the Champions League group stage win over Borussia Dortmund, it has been a sensational run for the North London club and the Spaniard.
Cazorla, who operates in the midfield region, has provided six assists this season and five of them came in the last two months. In this time period, he also netted the ball half a dozen times. Just when everybody thought that the season was coming to a premature end for Arsene Wenger’s side, Cazorla has helped to turn the tide in the favour of his club.
The best position for him is to play behind the No.9 and he has been very effective playing as the attacking fulcrum of the team. He boasts a pass completion rate of 88% and keeps the forwards and wingers well fed with defence splitting passes. He averages 2.4 key passes every game. The Spaniard is a master of the through ball.
He is no stranger to playing counter attacking football and his ability to put forward long balls makes him a potent weapon in Wenger’s arsenal. Cazorla, with a goal and an assist, helped Arsenal defeat Machester City at the Etihad in January. The match showed just how Arsenal can play if they are more organized at the back. As Arsenal contained City, Cazorla guarded a young and inexperienced Francis Coquelin and at the same time led the North Londoners attacks.
#2 Dusan Tadic
Southampton fans are enjoying a great season under Ronald Koeman. Compared to last term, the Saints are in a higher position in the league table and they have managed to stop the big teams from steamrolling them. All thanks to Mauricio Pochettino and a bunch club heroes for moving elsewhere. Koeman has breathed a new soul into the team and has strengthened it very well. One of his signings, Dusan Tadic, has been really exceptional.
Tadic had recorded seven assists and has scored thrice. Seven assists is meagre, but six of the assists came in the first eight league matches, which proved to be very crucial in kick-starting the campaign of the Saints. They managed to win 16 out of the possible 24 points, scored 19 goals and conceded only 5.
Usually operating on the left wing, Tadic has the ability to adapt himself to play in other attacking positions. He has bonded well with the other forwards and cohesion is one of the main reasons why Southampton and it players are getting more attention.
Tadic has an impressive crossing record of putting in 2.3 crosses each game. This ability of Tadic complements the height and aerial ability of Graziano Pelle. Tadic makes quick moves behind the striker and often pounces on the rebounds to score and attempts 2 shots on target every game.
Tadic, Pelle and Mane – the front trio (usually) – rely on quick passing and under such circumstances, the Serbian completes 79% of the passes every game. He is well short of reaching his record of 14 assists last season with FC Twente, but has quickly adjusted to the Engish style and has made a noteworthy impact.
#1 Cesc Fabregas
If you are given the task of rating all the players mentioned in this list, Fabregas might be the only player you are ready to give a score of 11 on 10. Even an opposition fan cannot deny the Spaniard’s brilliance on the field.
Back in the league where he started his journey after spending three years in Spain, many expected a tough transition phase for Fabregas. But the way that he has played so far has made the fans sit up and watch him in action.
Fabregas tops the assists chart with 15 assists – the number he managed to bag last season for Barcelona in La Liga. There are 16 more games to be played, at this rate he is poised to take over Theirry Henry’s all time Premier League record of 20 assists in a season.
It can be said that Fabregas took very less time to embrace Jose Mourinho’s philosophy. Partnering Nemanja Matic, he plays in a deeper position compared to his roles at his previous clubs. He tries 6.2 long balls every game, thus helps in putting pressure on the opposition during counter attacks.
He has maintained his passing standards at the same rate as last season with a pass completion of 87% and has helped others by slipping into free spaces and provide passing options. With his clever passing, he picks out forwards in goal scoring positions and averages 3.3 key passes and 0.6 through balls every game.
| Player | Assists | Pass success % | Key Passes | Long balls | Through balls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cesc Fabregas | 15 | 86.8 | 3.2 | 6.1 | 0.6 |
| Dusan Tadic | 7 | 78.5 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Santi Cazorla | 6 | 88.2 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Gylfi Sigurdsson | 8 | 85.7 | 2.6 | 2 | 0.4 |
| Stewart Downing | 7 | 84.7 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 0.1 |
Stats from WhoScored
