Defenders, Midfielders And Forwards Compared

This aim of this article is to provide a detailed analysis of the top points scorers among defenders, midfielders and forwards in terms of points and value, whilst explaining relevant trends found. This is an expansion on my previous article regarding the analysis of the Chelsea trio Oscar, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas. 

Let’s start with the defenders. I have chosen the top 15 defenders in terms of overall score and carried out some extensive analysis to determine their points per minute played as well as their points per million.

Defenders

Figure 1

Looking at the date in Figure 1, we can clearly see a general trend in that both Chelsea and Southampton defenders are at the top of this list for points/min. This is not surprising as they have kept 11 and 10 cleansheets respectively so far. However, their high points per minute is not just attributed to clean sheets, but their attacking exploits which earn them significant merit.

With three assists in a row coupled with his spectacular early-season form, Branislav Ivanovic remains at the summit of the standings followed closely by his team-mate John Terry and Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne. I have added Laurent Koscielny here for comparison and so far he has shown an impressive points per minute ratio which rivals the top three. It should be noted though that he has only played 1015 minutes due to earlier injuries and therefore any comparisons should be made with caution.

Elsewhere in the table, full-backs Gael Clichy and Cesar Azpilicueta show impressive results, yielding a better points per minute average than Leighton Baines. While Baines has seen a decline in form, partly due to Everton’s inability to shut out their opposition, it should be noted that rotation has hit the Chelsea and Man City full backs, whilst Baines is at least nailed on in his spot.

In terms of value, the two Saints full-backs are top, followed by Terry and, surprisingly, Andre Wisdom. This West Brom gem has nailed down a berth at full-back, and with Tony Pulis at the helm, I would expect his value to rise.

Midfielders

Figure 2.

Unsurprisingly, Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez has topped the table of best performing midfielders with a whopping 0.08182 ppm, second only to Sergio Aguero. The red hot Chilean has been in fantastic form lately and looks set to continue running riot in the Premier League. The second spot is one which many people would not expect. For those of you who read my previous article, you would know how good Oscar has been and the young Brazilian should not be underestimated or overlooked.

Third place goes to another young star, this time a Belgian. Given a chance to prove his worth, Tottenham’s Nacer Chadli has paid dividends to many managers who invested in him. David Silva and Angel Di Maria follow with similar results, though it should be noted that the Argentine’s minutes have been limited due to injury and a fair comparison cannot be drawn.

Popular Chelsea duo Hazard and Fabregas are also offering strong returns and value. Elsewhere in the table, we can see that Stewart Downing has profited from his move to the tip of the midfield diamond by retruning an impressive 0.06197 points per minute whilst being the top player for value.

Speaking of which, the mid-priced midfielders offer exceptional value as we can see from looking at their points per million, with Downing being the best value midfielder to have, followed by Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson and Chadli who are both equally priced. It is worth noting, though, that Sigurdsson will miss the next three games due to picking up a red card in the FA Cup. Compare this to top scorer Alexis Sanchez who is down in seventh, it just goes to show that there are a wide variety of effective options for a strong midfield.

Forwards

Figure 3.

The player with the highest points per minute is Sergio Aguero. The little Argentine has managed a whopping 0.09192 points for each minute he has been on the field this season and has 14 goals and three assists to his name in the Premier League. The league’s highest goalscorer, Diego Costa, has 17 goals and two assists in the league and managed 0.07484 points per minute, which is still brilliant and third highest compared with all the forwards.

Harry Kane has registered the second highest average at 0.07719 points per minute and, having played a similar number of minutes to Aguero, has chalked up eight goals and five assists in the Premier League. Along the table, we can see one of the Hammers’ new signings, Diafra Sakho, with the fourth highest average at 0.07031 whilst the other new signing, Enner Valencia, has 0.06101. Though his game time has been hampered by a back injury, Sahko has still shown some impressive form and looks be the better option in the Hammers’ frontline.

I have added Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud and Manchester United’s Radamel Falcao here just to get an idea of their results, as many people are considering them for their Wildcards. Though only playing 620 and 694 minutes respectively, they are showing some impressive statistics, having averages of 0.06774 and 0.06628 points per minute. Game time is an issue, and though Giroud looks to be nailed on as striker for the Gunners, rotation looks inevitable for the Columbian. It may seem strange at first that Charlie Austin has quite a low points per minute average but then we have to take into account that he has the second highest game time of the forwards in the table (1731 minutes), behind only Graziano Pelle (1950 minutes).

A quick look at the value table on the right shows that there is a lot of value to be had in the mid-priced forwards this year and the top six are priced at less than 8.0. Austin tops the table with 16.77 points per million, whilst his two English compatriots, Saido Berahino and Kane, are a close second and third with 16 and 15.25 respectively.

Team Analysis for Forwards and Midfielders

Figure 4.

Figure 4. shows the points per minute played for the most popular forwards and midfielders of the top teams in the table. Looking at Arsenal assets first, we can see that Sanchez is undoubtedly the strongest performer compared to Giroud and Cazorla. Costa and Oscar are almost tied with the highest points per minute for Chelsea compared to Hazard and Fabregas, though game time should be taken into account.

Liverpool are an interesting team to analyse as they have no real nailed-on forward who is performing at the moment, so I have compared their three best midfielders. Raheem Sterling is the stand-out option here, with Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard  close behind. For Mancherster City, Aguero is still the best option for points but, interestingly, Silva has a higher points per minute average than Yaya Toure, who is currently playing for his country in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Manchester counterparts United are the most interesting to look at as we see ex-Chelsea star Juan Mata claim a higher points per minute than both strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie (0.05636 vs 0.05270 and 0.05097 respectively). Whilst rotation is an issue amongst the attacking United’s players, Mata seems to have impressed Lous van Gaal enough recently to earn him a place in the starting line-up. Priced at 8.5, he is surely one for the Watchlist if he continues to perform. Elsewhere, both Tadic and Sigurdsson have out-performed their forward counterparts. Kane and Chadli are the stand-out options in the Spurs attack, though Eriksen is not far behind. For the Hammers, Sahko and Downing look like good options, the latter being more secure in terms of game time. Finally, Everton forward Romelu Lukaku has yet to live up to his hype as Kevin Mirallas comfortably beats him with a higher points per minute.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have carried out a simple but detailed look at the points per minute played in the Premier League for the highest scoring defenders, midfielders and forwards. Aguero remains a Fantasy Football necessity according to this analysis, along with Sanchez and Costa and it would be interesting to see how many managers try to fit this trio into their teams. The wealth of budget options this year, particularly among forwards and midfielders, offers incredibly good value and could be the key to forming a balanced and effective team.