STATS: Fulham’s improving work rate vs Holman’s defensive work for Aston Villa

Fulham v Aston Villa 15:00

– Fulham could only take a point out of their game with newly promoted Southampton, despite goals from Keiron Richardson and an own goal earnt from a deflected John Arne Riise shot

– Southampton are consistently one of the hardest working teams in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, and they brought that out in Fulham in their last match. Fulham covered 67.85 miles in that game, by far their most as a team so far this season, while Bryan Ruiz’s 6.94 miles is a high for an individual Fulham player this season

– Despite the result, Fulham’s Damien Duff remains in the top ten in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index have scored three goals so far this season and also contributed an assist. Duff has also delivered 13 crosses.

– Fulham’s old guard have been leading the way this season. Riise is another Fulham veteran who continues to impress this season, and has contributed three assists so far this season, while Steve Sidwell has both won and attempted the fifth highest number of tackles in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 20 won and 35 attempted

– Mark Schwarzer, another established player, has been the busiest goalkeeper in the league so far this season with 42 saves so far

– Striker Hugo Rodallega, in contrast, is a new addition making an impact at Craven Cottage. He may only have one goal to his name, but he has had twenty shots at goal so far this season with fourteen on target (the 7th highest shots on target for a player this season)

– Aston Villa continued to slide down the Premier League table with a 2-0 defeat against Spurs, a result made all the worse because of injury to young defender Joe Bennett

– Another young player for Villa, 23 year old defender Cieran Clark, is ranked fourth for blocks so far this season with ten

– Another bright point is that Villa’s 61.29 miles against Spurs was the second highest distance posted by Spurs in a single game so far this season

– Villa striker Brett Holman has been doing his best to win the ball back in Villa’s attacking third, having attempted more tackles than any other striker in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index this season

– Karim El Ahmadi has been the focal point of his team this season, receiving the ball 336 times, more than any other Villa player