STATS: Stoke vs Reading – Fastest players, hardest workers, most shots
Stoke v Reading 15:00
– Stoke came within 12 minutes of holding Arsenal in their last Premier League game, before losing out to a deflected Lukas Podolski free kick.
– Up until then Asmir Begovic had been in inspired form to keep the Gunners out. He’s made 130 saves this season, the 5th highest so far this season in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
– Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross has been putting his body on the line for Stoke this season, and has made the third highest number of blocks in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 27. Team mate Robert Huth is in 7th with 22.
– Stoke winger Matt Etherington has been unlucky with his deliveries this season, he has delivered 29 crosses without being credited an assist, more than any other midfielder in the league.
– Reading have made a habit of late winners recently, taking ten points from twelve in their last four games. Their latest victims were Sunderland, with Jimmy Kebe scoring both goals in a 2-1 win.
– Kebe’s goals took his tally for the season to five, from an efficient 16 efforts at goal with 68.8% on target. In fact, of the players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index to have scored five or more goals Kebe has needed the fewest shots per goal, with an average of 3.2 shots for each goal scored.
– Team mate Adam le Fondre has the fifth best shots per goal ratio in the league, averaging 3.6 shots for each of his ten goals this season, making them one of the most dangerous strike pairings in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
– In the middle of the park, Jem Karacan is one of only 16 players in the league to have attempted 25 or more tackles while still maintaining a 75% + success rate for tackles won. Karacan has won 77.1% of the 35 he has attempted.
– Ian Harte is undergoing a renaissance of form this season at Reading, and delivered 9 crosses against Sunderland. Only Leighton Baines delivered more in the last round of games with 10.
– New signing Hope Akpan has made the step up to Premier League football seamlessly for Reading, contributing 3 assists in 3 appearances at an average of one every 48 minutes 20 seconds.