The key stats from Europe’s top five leagues so far

All stats are from Europe’s top five leagues and per game unless stated otherwise. League positions are in brackets. Players must have made at least four appearances for inclusion. Thanks to WhoScored for the numbers.
Teams – attacking
Most shots
Napoli (5th) – 19
Leipzig (3rd) – 18.2
Inter Milan (6th) – 18
Lyon (6th) – 18
Sassuolo (2nd) – 17.8
Highest Premier League team: Liverpool (1st, 17.6)
It turns out that taking a lot of shots is good.
Fewest shots
Crystal Palace (13th) – 8.1
Schalke 04 (17th) – 8
Augsburg (6th) – 7.8
Genoa (15th) – 7.6
Elche (10th) – 4.3
Yet taking few shots is not necessarily bad. Look at Augsburg go!
Most dribbles
Barcelona (12th) – 16
Fulham (17th) – 15.7
Real Madrid (2nd) – 15
Lyon (6th) – 14.3
Saint-Etienne (13th) – 13.4
Fulham are finally in their natural place: between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Fewest dribbles
West Brom (18th) – 6.1
Osasuna (9th) – 6
Burnley (20th) – 5.8
Werder Bremen (9th) – 5.8
Benevento (14th) – 5.7
There is a team that dribbles less than Burnley. Praise be.
Defending
Most shots conceded
Cagliari (12th) – 19.5
Schalke 04 (17th) – 18.2
Elche (10th) – 16.8
Newcastle (11th) – 16.7
Freiburg (13th) – 16.7
Karlo Darlow, Karl Darlöw and Karlos Darlow are crushing it.
Fewest shots conceded
Lens (10th) – 8
Bayer Leverkusen (4th) – 8
Brighton (16th) – 7.6
Borussia Dortmund (2nd) – 6.2
Athletic Bilbao (11th) – 6
Two Premier League teams have conceded more goals than Brighton. Poor Mat Ryan. Poor, Mat Ryan.
Most tackles
Mainz 05 (18th) – 20.7
Leeds (12th) – 20.4
Lorient (16th) – 20.3
Saint-Etienne (13th) – 20
Napoli (5th) – 19.8
The lesson here is that tackling is mostly for mid-table teams.
Fewest tackles
Levante (18th) – 11.9
Verona (7th) – 11.2
Fiorentina (11th) – 11.2
Hertha Berlin (14th) – 11.2
Athletic Bilbao (11th) – 10.9
Worst Premier League team: Liverpool (1st, 12.3)
And so is not tackling. Then there’s Liverpool. Remember when everyone kicked off at Pep Guardiola?
Most clearances
Augsburg (6th) – 27.8
Newcastle (11th) – 23.7
Werder Bremen (9th) – 23.7
Sheffield United (19th) – 23.4
Wolfsburg (11th) – 22.5
Elche (10th) – 22.5
Our new favourite team is Augsburg.
Fewest clearances
Real Betis (7th) – 10.1
Leipzig (3rd) – 9.7
Inter Milan (6th) – 8.8
Paris Saint-Germain (1st) – 8.4
Napoli (5th) – 8
Worst Premier League team: Manchester City (10th, 11.3)
Suppose if you’re mint you don’t have to clear all that much.
Most fouls
Lens (10th) – 17.9
Getafe (8th) – 17.7
Verona (7th) – 17.3
SD Huesca (19th) – 16.6
Spezia (17th) – 16.5
Highest Premier League team: Brighton (16th, 13.6)
Filth from Brighton.
Fewest fouls
Arsenal (9th) – 9.7
Augsburg (6th) – 9.7
Villarreal (3rd) – 9.5
Liverpool (1st) – 9.3
Barcelona (12th) – 9.2
Borussia Dortmund (2nd) – 9.2
Jurgen Klopp and Unai Emery have both coached two of these teams each. What does it all mean?
Passing
Highest possession average
Borussia Dortmund (2nd) – 62.4%
Bayern Munich (1st) – 61.1%
Paris Saint-Germain (1st) – 60.9%
Manchester City (10th) – 60.1%
Liverpool (1st) – 59.8%
That is quite funny from City.
Lowest possession average
West Ham (14th) – 40.6%
Sheffield United (19th) – 40.6%
Crystal Palace (13th) – 39.7%
Augsburg (6th) – 39.4%
Cadiz (5th) – 36.2%
OLE, OLE, OLE, SUPER AUGSBURG, OLE.
Best pass completion rate
Paris Saint-Germain (1st) – 90.2%
Juventus (3rd) – 88.3%
Barcelona (12th) – 88.2%
Sassuolo (2nd) – 88%
Borussia Dortmund (2nd) – 88%
Manchester City (1oth) – 88%
That is even funnier from Barca.
Worst pass completion rate
Werder Bremen (9th) – 70.8%
Eibar (15th) – 70.7%
Getafe (8th) – 66.2%
Osasuna (9th) – 64.5%
Cadiz (5th) – 62.4%
Worst Premier League team: Burnley (20th, 72.1%)
Passing is for nerds in Spain.
Players – attacking
Most goals
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – 10
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton) – 8
Heung-min Son (Tottenham) – 8
Jamie Vardy (Leicester) – 7
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) – 7
Mo Salah (Liverpool) – 7
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) – 7
Reinstate the Ballon d’Or just for him.
Most assists
Harry Kane (Tottenham) – 8
Florian Thauvin (Marseille) – 5
11 players – 4
Or him.
Most shots
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – 5.8
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) – 5.5
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 4.7
Mo Salah (Liverpool) – 4.6
Andre Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt) – 4.5
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) – 4.5
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan) – 4.5
Andre Silva feels like a slight outlier here.
Most chances created
Filip Djuricic (Sassuolo) – 3.8
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) – 3.8
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) – 3.6
Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) – 3.3
Angel Di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain) – 3.3
Hands up if you remember Filip Djuricic at Southampton? Hands down, you liar.
Most dribbles
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) – 5.5
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 4.3
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) – 4.2
Ademola Lookman (Fulham) – 4
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Fulham) – 3.7
Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle) – 3.7
Eclectic.
Defending
Most tackles
Fabio (Nantes) – 5.2
Davide Calabria (AC Milan) – 5
Yvann Macon (Saint-Etienne) – 5
Laurent Abergel (Lorient) – 4.6
Allan (Everton) – 4.3
It is indeed that one.
Most times dribbled past
Daniel Caligiuri (Augsburg) – 3.7
Laurent Abergel (Lorient) – 3.1
Arthur Masuaku (West Ham) – 2.8
Joan Jordan (Sevilla) – 2.6
Mateusz Klich (Leeds) – 2.6
Augsburg there again. And Masuaku, predictably.
Most interceptions
Fabien Centonze (Metz) – 5.4
Francesco Acerbi (Lazio) – 4.5
Joshua Guilavogui (Wolfsburg) – 4.3
Jeremiah St. Juste (Mainz) – 3.7
Laurent Koscielny (Bordeaux) – 3.3
Cristian Romero (Atalanta) – 3.3
Highest Premier League player: N’Golo Kante (3.1)
Remember when Kante would lead this by about 45 interceptions per game?
Most fouls
Joan Jordan (Sevilla) – 3.4
Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad) – 3.3
Cristian Romero (Atalanta) – 3.3
Marko Rog (Cagliari) – 3.2
Antonin Barak (Verona) – 3
Jose Manuel Fantan (Celta Vigo) – 3
Highest Premier League player: Trezeguet/Steven Alzate/Ashley Barnes (2.8)
Joe Jordan’s Spanish cousin has a similar reputation.
Most fouled
Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) – 5.3
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) – 4.2
Andrea Belotti (Torino) – 4
Angelo Fulgini (Angers) – 4
Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach) – 3.8
Calf jealousy is a terrible thing.
Most clearances
Felix Uduokhai (Augsburg) – 6.8
Kyle Bartley (West Brom) – 6.8
Bremer (Torino) – 6.3
Jannik Vestergaard (Southampton) – 6.2
Jeffrey Gouweleeuw (Augsburg) – 6.2
AUGSBURG.
Most aerial duels won
Raul Garcia (Athletic Bilbao) – 14.1
Oli McBurnie (Sheffield United) – 13.7
Sebastian Andersson (FC Koln) – 12.7
Steve Mounie (Brest) – 11.4
Enric Gallego (Osasuna) – 11.2
Chris Wood (Burnley) – 11.2
One learned their trade mostly under Diego Simeone. The other mastered the art thanks to Chris Wilder. Two titans of the managerial game.
Possession
Most passes
Edmond Tapsoba (Bayer Leverkusen) – 100.2
Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain) – 98.6
Thiago Silva (Chelsea) – 95.5
Manuel Akanji (Borussia Dortmund) – 91
Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) – 90.8
The boy Tapsoba to Manchester City in January it is.
Most unsuccessful touches (instances of bad control)
Jorge Pombo (Cadiz) – 5
Grady Diangana (West Brom) – 4.7
Franck Ribery (Fiorentina) – 4.5
Ibrahima Niane (Metz) – 4.5
Michail Antonio (West Ham) – 4.2
I got nothing.
Most times dispossessed with no dribble involved
Franck Ribery (Fiorentina) – 4.3
Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace) – 4.2
Grady Diangana (West Brom) – 3.4
Simy (Crotone) – 3.3
Ademola Lookman (Fulham) – 3.3
West Brom fans probably hoped Grady Diangana would be similar to Franck Ribery, to be fair.