Most leagues in Europe have played at least four league games already this season, which is enough to start making some (not too strong) statements! We love statements, don’t you? We can predict the future (not really) and forecast which team will win the lot this time (obviously not).
However, there’s one thing we love better than statements of fact and that is stats. So let’s bring them in. Today we are checking who are some of the stats leaders across Europe. Just two requisites first: only players aged 21 or younger with at least 230 minutes played so far.
1 – Passes into the final third
There are three big names leading this metric. They are well-known players that we will not go deeper into here. Yet, we could not ignore them. Instead, our focus will be on the next two players on the list. Gabri Martínez is a wide attacker who has played on the left for Braga since his transfer from Mirandés. Last season he contributed to 15 goals (9 goals and 6 assists) in LaLiga Hypermotion. His 2.42 completed dribbles per game placed him 2nd among all Segunda División wingers, only behind Andorra’s Alejandro Calvo. He’s only played a handful of minutes but it seems Martínez could becoming a more combinative winger, with his number of passes into the box increasing from 0.54 at Mirandés to 2.07 in Portugal.
Another player worth a mention is PSV’s central defender Ryan Flamingo. PSV are one of the most dominant teams in the Netherlands so their defenders often see much of the ball and are usually ball-playing centre-backs. The thing with Flamingo is that he played 1707 minutes as a defensive midfielder last season at Utrecht, so these numbers should come as no surprise given that he’s already proven his ability to do all passing things from midfield.
2 – Ball progression by carrying
Our friends Bakayoko and Wirtz… they are famous! Yet again they appear on a list (and it won’t be the last time). This time we will highlight other two different players: Ben Seghir and Max Bruns.
The first one is Ligue 1’s one to watch this season. He had his debut last season, but Seghir has already played half of his minutes last season. In terms of general ball progressions per game (both via passing or carrying), only Teji Savanier is ahead of his 15.9 ball progressions per ninety. On top of that he’s averaging 3.38 successful dribbles as a right-sided, left winger. 4th in the list we find Max Bruns, a right-footed defender who’s also a Twente academy graduate. Bruns played 671 mins last season and did show some of his on-ball abilities: he put up 7.91 carries and 12.3 progressive passes and his passes added a 4.55% threat on average. He also averaged 12.3 meters progressed per carry. He’s so far kept up with those numbers this season.
3 – Quick recoveries
Adam Wharton is a Premier League player, even though he’s only competed for 18 months to date. He’s off. Marc Bernal is the youngest player on all of these lists and he certainly deserves a quick review. Unfortunately, he picked an ACL minutes before the final whistle at Vallecas. However, he remains one for the future and one of the brightest gems of La Masía. He was fitting in perfectly at Barcelona, winning balls high and being aggressive in the way Hansi Flick wanted him to play.
Another player who looks like he’s going to the top sooner rather than later is Lamine Camara who Monaco rescued from relegated Metz. Camara owned 15% of Metz completed tackles last season, while also taking charge of 14% of his team’s total recoveries. He’s a well-rounded midfielder with quality ball-striking.
4 – xG/Shot
Lucas Stassin started the campaign absolutely on fire with Westerloo: 4 games in and Stassin had already scored 2 goals and given 3 assists (surpassing his assist tally of last season). Then came Saint-Etienne and he flew to France. Last season at Westerloo saw the making of a could-be-great goalscorer. 9 goals in 1459′ were a high return for someone who was having his debut season in Belgium’s first tier. If he keeps his 0.19 xG/shot ratio of last season, this could be a great season for him. His taken a tidy number of shots as well. Another player who has started well the new season is Emanuel Emegha: 3 matches, 2 goals and 1.4 xG. Only 21, he will be looking to improve his personal best of 8 goals from last season’s Ligue 1.
5 – xT by passing
It’s happened again for Florian Wirtz. That’s one of the problems of being freakishly good: sometimes you can be overlooked. Not this time, though. This is a conscious decision. We will focus first on Konstantinos Karetsas, a 16-year-old who plays for Genk and who did already have his debut last season. His delivery is Karetsas’ main via for threat generation. But he also does quite a lot of things while being this young: 2.69 successful dribbles, 33.5 deep progressions into the final third (both carries or touches he has in that zone) and 1.73 shots per game.
On the other side there’s Lennon Miller, another young prospect who’s been Motherwell sort of playmaker from set pieces. He averages 2.38 chances created per game but only 0.06 xA from open play. On top of that, he’s taken part in an above-average quantity of xG (0.95).
6 – Goals prevented
Yes, as you’ve all guessed: we’ve cheated on this one. But there are reasons for it. In those leagues there were only three goalkeepers aged 21 or younger who had played more than 230 minutes. However, the one with the most goals prevented per game falls within our original range: Zion Suzuki, the Japanese stopper playing for Parma. Suzuki has conceded just two goals from 3.8 xGOT. Even though that the shots he’s receiving have an average value of 0.24 xGOT. It has been quite an eventful start of life for Suzuki at Parma. After two great games against Fiorentina and Milan, ending in a draw and a win for Parma, Suzuki got sent off before Parma capitulated with a field player in goal against Napoli.
After playing four games last season, Epolo has already surpassed his minutes tally from the 23/24. In 675′ this season, he’s averaging the highest number of shots needed to score past any goalkeeper in the league. He’s also prevented the 2nd most xG in the league. He’s certainly one to watch, as he approaches his first full season in Belgium’s first tier.
Founded in 2017 as a consultancy, Driblab has driven innovation through data in all aspects of professional football. Thanks to a transversal model, its database collects and models statistics in all directions. From converting matches and videos into bespoke data for training academies to developing cutting-edge technology, helping clubs, federations and representative agencies in talent scouting and transfer markets. Driblab’s smart data is used by clubs all over the world, with success stories such as Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis and Girondins Bordeaux among others. Here you can find out more about how we work and what we offer.
