THE FOOTBALL BUZZ

Covering anything football related. Statistics, stories, players and teams.

[thefootballbuzz]

TFB Premier League Log Prediction 2019/20

1. Man City

2. Liverpool

3. Arsenal

4. Tottenham

5. Everton

6. Chelsea

7. Man United

8. Leicester

9. Wolves

10. Watford

11. Bournemouth

12. West Ham

13. Aston Villa

14. Crystal Palace

15. Southampton

16. Burnley

17. Norwich City

18. Brighton & Hove

19. Newcastle United

20. Sheffield United

[thefootballbuzz]

AFRICA ATTACKS

THE PREMIER LEAGUE’S BEST AFRICAN ATTACKER

The Premier League Golden Boot race finished in a three way tie, shared between Sadio Mané; Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 22 goals each. The most notable thing about this achievement is that all the winners of the award are African, a great achievement for a continent that does not have much economic strength and is considered a sleeping giant in the world of football. So while it is important to look at the fantastic achievement of the three and what a great win it is for Africa, the question to ask is “Who Is The Better Attacker?”

Many would say Salah, as this is the second year running the Egyptian winger has won the award. Some may argue that Mané is the more complete of the two Liverpool wingers, but stats say otherwise. Salah creates more opportunities and has registered more assists, they share very similar stats regarding key passes; dribbles completed and both have an above passing rate. Aubameyang, however, is an out and out striker, often rotating with his Arsenal team Lacazette or pushing out wide to accommodate his team mate. Meaning he’ll lack in the creative and technical stats. But for the sake of the stats based upon each player’s attacking game, Salah is by far the most all round and best player. He is accused of not being a complete attacker, but as said, the stats say otherwise. The stats will tell you that Mané is the more one dimensional attacker. We will drop Aubameyang’s wonders in Germany for the sake of this argument, but he is most probably the best striker in the Prem this year, but not the best attacker. So to back it up and confirm that Salah is the best attacker of Golden Boot winners, here is a look at the stats:

SALAH (Liverpool and Egypt)

Assists: 8*

Shots/90: 3.6*

Key passes/90: 1.8*

Dribbles comp./90: 2.1*

Dispossessed/90: 3.1

Pass success: 75.9%

Bad touches/90: 2.9

MANÉ (Liverpool and Mali)

Assists: 1

Shots/90: 2.4

Key passes/90: 1.3

Dribbles comp./90: 1.4

Dispossessed/90: 1.3*

Pass success: 78.2%*

Bad touches/90: 2.9

AUBAMEYANG (Arsenal and Gabon)

Assists: 5

Shots/90: 2.6

Key passes/90: 0.9

Dribbles comp./90: 0.8

Dispossessed/90: 0.9*

Pass success: 74%

Bad touches/90: 1.7*

Stats to date with the 2018/19 Premier League season gathered from whoscored.com 

[okanb]

Henningsvær - Norway

[thefootballbuzz]

ANTHONY MARTIAL REVIVED

It feels like Anthony Martial has been playing forever. In 2015 the Frenchman arrived at Old Trafford for £36 million, reaching up to £50 million in add-ons, making him the most expensive teenager in football at the time. Since then Martial has shown glimpses of his talent, but has had his fair share of obstacles in the way. Arrivals of players like Ibrahimovic and Lukaku saw, being pushed out wide and not being trusted as Mourinho’s starting central striker, has limited Martial’s growth.

Martial was Man United’s top goalscorer in his first season with the club, scoring 18 goals in 56 games along with winning the FA Cup and winning the 2015 European Golden Boy Award. Since then Martial has not hit those same heights, but in recent weeks he is coming to the fold, scoring a brace in a 2-2 draw against Chelsea and slotting away another goal in his previous game against Everton.

With Lukaku benched, Sanchez and Rashford most likely shifted out wide and Man United wanting to renew Martial’s contract for the long term, could this be the season Martial finally sets his position as Man United’s main striker?

THE STATS

- Games: 13 (3 as substitute)

- Goals: 5

- Shots/game: 1.1

- Dribbles/game: 2.7

- Chances Created/game: 1.2

[thefootballbuzz]

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: ONE TO WATCH:

JADON SANCHO

Team: Borussia Dortmund

Age: 18

Nationality: England

Last year August, Borussia Dortmund made the bargain signing of Jadon Sancho, arriving from Manchester City for £8 million.

The English teenage winger has since excelled in Germany and has played his team’s two opening Champions League games to date. He also received an England call-up thanks to his recent form with the German outfit.

Sancho’s statistics indicate that he is an industrious winger and replicates the work of teammate Marco Reus. Sancho has registered 7 assists in all competitions, along with completing 1.7 key passes per game. He doesn’t take on many dribbles per game, taking on 1.3 per game and only completing half of those he takes on. Showing that he fits into a more well drilled passing team.

He doesn’t take as many shots either and this reflects poorly on his attacking contributions. As Sancho notched in 12 goals in 18 games during his time with the Man City U18’s. With further growth and more game time, I’m sure that Jadon Sancho will establish himself as a world class player.

[thefootballbuzz]

UEFA SUPER CUP Atletico Madrid beat city rivals, Real Madrid, 4-2 after extra time. The score was locked at 2-2 after regulation time. GOAL SCORERS -Atletico Madrid: D.Costa [2], Saul Niguez, Koke -Real Madrid: K.Benzema, S.Ramos

[thefootballbuzz]

SUPERCOPA CHAMPIONS

Barcelona were triumphant in a 2-1 win pver Sevilla to clinch the Spanish Super Cup🇪🇸

This is Messi’s first trophy as club captain and a 33rd as a player.

Goals:

- Barcelona: G.Pique 42’; O.Dembele 78’

- Sevilla: P.Sarabia 9’

[thefootballbuzz]

THE PREMIER LEAGUE IS BACK

Man United opened the league with a 2-1 win over Leicester City.

Chelsea down Huddersfield 3-0.

Wolves and Everton end on level pegging.

Liverpool smash Southampton, Sadio Mane bags a brace.

Champions Man City beat Arsenal 2-0, the first Premier League game for Arsenal without Wenger since 1996!

[thefootballbuzz]

GOALKEEPER RECORD BROKEN

Kepa Arrizabalaga (got that on my first try without checking) has joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao for £71 million.

His transfer fee is the most for a goalkeeper and breaks Alisson Becker’s two week record, who broke Gianluigi Buffon’s 17 year record.

[thefootballbuzz]

JOE HART ARRIVES AT BURNLEY

75 International Appearances🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

2 Premier League Titles 🏆

+100 League Clean Sheets🙅‍♂️

4 EPL Golden Gloves🧤

Joins for a fee of £3,5 million from Man City. Bargain or a cheap offload?

[thefootballbuzz]

Predicted La Liga Table 2018/19

1. Barcelona

2. Atletico Madrid

3. Real Madrid

4. Villarreal

5. Valencia

6. Sevilla

7. Real Betis

8. Real Soceidad

9. Celta Vigo

10. Levante

11. Espanyol

12. Getafe

13. Athletic Bilbao

14. Eibar

15. Girona

16. Rayo Vallecano

17. Leganes

18. Alaves

19. Real Valladolid

20. Huesca

[thefootballbuzz]

Predicted Premier League Table 2018/19

1. Manchester City

2. Liverpool

3. Manchester United

4. Arsenal

5. Chelsea

6. Tottenham Hotspur

7. Everton

8. West Ham United

9. Leicester City

10. Wolverhampton Wanderers

11. Crystal Palace

12. Fulham

13. Burnley

14. Watford

15. Southampton

16. Brighton and Hove Albion

17. Bournemouth

18. Newcastle

19. Huddersfield

20. Cardiff City

[thefootballbuzz]

INCOMING TRANSFER Gelson Martins has joined Atletico Madrid on a free transfer from Sporting Lisbon.

[thefootballbuzz]

TWO BRAZILIANS SIGNED Richarlison will rejoin his former Watford manager, Marco Silva, at Everton for a reported of £50 million. While Malcom was snapped up by Barcelona for a reported fee of €37 million from French club Bordeaux.

[thefootballbuzz]

THE NEXT NEYMAR? WHICH RONALDO WILL HE EMULATE AT REAL MADRID? IT’S VINICIUS JUNIOR WE’RE TALKING ABOUT! The 18 year old Brazilian was finally confirmed as a Real Madrid player, after his transfer of €45 million was confirmed last year December. This transfer made him the most expensive teenager in footballer to date. His transfer saw him dubbed as the new Neymar. But will he live up to the tag? Only time will tell, but the stats give us a heads up. He’s played 11 games (976 minutes out of a possible 990) during this seasons Brasileiro Serie A for Flamengo and has bagged a decent 4 goals and registered 3 assists (directly involved in a goal every 140 minutes). He takes a total of 5.6 dribbles a game (half of which are successful) and makes just over 1 key pass a game. These stats are impressive for a teenager but don’t speak volumes of the player he is. He can play on either wing and is strong with both feet. Majority of his shots come with in the box, as he likes to cut in from the wing and take a shot at goal. This technique can prove to be very dangerous as a former Real Madrid player, Cristiano Ronaldo, did the very same. Here at TFB we hope to see Vinícius take La Liga and Europe by storm with Real Madrid. And hopefully exceeds the levels that were set by Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario at Real Madrid.

[thefootballbuzz]

MOST EXPENSIVE GOALKEEPER Liverpool smash a 17 year long record, as they acquired the services of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson from Roma for £65 million.

[thefootballbuzz]

ANOTHER SEASON, ANOTHER MANAGER Chelsea appoint Maurizio Sarri as their new manager after sacking Antonio Conté earlier this week. He’s Chelsea’s fourth Italian manager in the last 15 years! 🇮🇹