STATS: Lampard’s shooting accuracy for Chelsea vs Pienaar’s passing for Everton
Chelsea v Everton 16:00
– Frank Lampard scored twice against Aston Villa at the weekend to become Chelsea’s all time leading goalscorer. He has scored 13 times against Aston Villa in his career, more than any other opponent.
– Lampard has 15 goals this season from 71 shots at goal. He’s hit 67.8% of those on target and needed just 4.7 shots and 131 minutes per goal. Only Chicarito, Daniel Sturridge and Robin van Persie have scored more frequently while on the pitch this season, while of the 25 players to have hit ten or more goals this season Lampard has the 6th best shooting accuracy.
– Eden Hazard contributed both assists for Chelsea against Aston Villa, the second time he has provided more than one assist in a game this season. He also now leads the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for dribbles completed with 56.
– He’s formed an impressive partnership this season with Juan Mata, with Mata having made 1114 passes this season, the fifth highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index and the most by a player outside of Manchester City or Arsenal.
– While much of the talk around the Chelsea squad this season will be around the midfield creativity of Mata and Hazard, Petr Cech has again proved the difference that a top class keeper can make. Cech has made an incredible 191 saves this season, the 4th highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Compare that to Manchester City’s Joe Hart, who has made just 123 saves, and De Gea and Lindegaard’s combined saves for United of 158.
– Everton will have a new manager at the helm next season after David Moyes confirmed he will take over as Manchester United manager next season. He can instantly endear himself to the Manchester United faithful by beating Chelsea in his final game at Everton.
– His penultimate game in charge saw Everton beat West Ham 2-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Mirallas.
– Mirallas scored twice and set up an incredible six goal scoring chances in the game – no other player has scored two plus goals and created so many goal scoring chances in a game this season.
– Everton’s dominance of attacking possession was such that they had three times as many touches in the box as West Ham in the game, and 28 shots at goal, the most they have had at Goodison Park this season. Steven Pienaar was at the heart of that, completing 48 passes in the opposition half, the second highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for last weekend.
– While Pienaar’s attacking play is rightly praised, one part of his game that may surprise some is his tough tackling. Pienaar is one of 25 players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index to have attempted over 100 tackles.
– Most impressive defensively this season, however, has been Phil Jagielka, who has contributed 335 times defensively this season across tackles won, interceptions, blocks and clearances – the 6th highest by a defender in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.