In-depth player stats: Fulham vs Swansea
Fulham v Swansea 15:00
Fulham suffered a disappointing 4-0 defeat to Liverpool before Christmas before bouncing back with a 1-1 draw against Southampton. Dimitar Berbatov scored the opener in that game before displaying a t-shirt urging his team mates to “keep calm and pass me the ball”
Berbatov may be forgiven his self assurance, with his goal against Southampton his sixth of the season, having come from 39 shots at goal with 58.9% on target.
Berbatov has averaged 6.5 shots per goal this season, as conversion rate on a par with Newcastle’s Demba Ba who has 11 goals this season, suggesting that if the chances come Berbatov’s way he could become one of the league’s top goal scorer’s by the end of the season.
One thing that Fulham aren’t missing is the potential to score goals. As well as Berbatov they have in Mladen Petric one of the best minutes per goal strikers in the league. His rate of 121 minutes per goal is bettered only by Javier Hernandez who has averaged a goal every 94 minutes 20 seconds.
Brede Hangeland was one of the stand out defensive performers of last season. Hangeland’s season has been disrupted by injury, but he has looked impressive on his return winning 64.9% of the 37 tackles he has attempted
Premier League top scorer Michu scored an equaliser for Swansea against Manchester United to earn Swansea a point they will be pleased with, while a 0-0 draw with Reading will be less pleasing for Laudrup’s side
Michu now has 13 goals to his name this season, joint with Manchester United’s Robin van Persie. Michu has scored his goals more efficiently, however, needing 54 shots for his goals compared to van Persie’s 63
Wayne Routledge has been on impressive form this season, and has been terrorizing defences. Routledge has had 16 efforts at goal with 14 on target, an accuracy percentage of 87.5% on target, the best in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, exclusing players who have had fewer than ten shots
Swansea captain Ashley Williams hit the headlines for the wrong reasons over Christmas, but the defender is top of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for most block made this season with 30. 8 of those were against Manchester United, the most by a single player in a match this season.