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

Matt Stead
PSG

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.