Matchday 5 facts and figures, for Durolas and beyond….
SWITCH ITCH
Inert outings like Karim El Ahmadi’s last weekend certainly don’t unfold often.
The Villa prowler became the first starting midfielder in the Premier League this season to play at least 60 minutes without recording a tackle, an interception, a blocked shot, a clearance, a shot attempt or a shot assist. Four others (Moussa Dembele, Vurnon Anita, Scott Sinclair and Adel Taarabt) had come close with just a single contribution from all six of those categories before El Ahmadi actually completed the naked half-dozen at the loss to Newcastle.
Indeed the pace of the PL still seems beyond El Ahmadi at times, a notion that came more into focus when like-minded Yacouba Sylla entered the AV fray last January and consistently influenced the cause.
Perhaps his return is imminent if Lambert wants to keep the current mold of midfield in effect with better bite. Below is a look — the graphic shows how much, on average, the before-mentioned six vitals above have been contributed by Villa’s four regular rear midfielders (Delph, El Ahmadi, Sylla, Westwood) since Sylla jumped into the shuffle.
Delph
Average: 10.5 per start
(Tackles 52 …. Interceptions 49 …. Blocked Shots 1 …. Clearances 23 …. Shots 17 …. Shot Assists 6 / Total: 148 in 14 starts)
El Ahmadi
Average: 4.5 per start
(Tackles 7 …. Interceptions 5 …. Blocked Shots 0 …. Clearances 5 …. Shots 1 …. Shot Assists 0 / Total: 18 in 4 starts)
Sylla
Average: 8.1 per start
(Tackles 19 …. Interceptions 17 …. Blocked Shots 2 …. Clearances 5 …. Shots 6 …. Shot Assists 8 / Total: 57 in 7 starts)
Westwood
Average: 8.1 per start
(Tackles 39 …. Interceptions 45 …. Blocked Shots 12 …. Clearances 21 …. Shots 7 …. Shot Assists 22 / Total: 146 in 18 starts)
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CORNER STORE
Last weekend’s corner-kick connection between Ashley Westwood and Christian Benteke ended quite the relentless pursuit by the pairing. Nine previous times Westwood had targeted Benteke this season.
Below is a look at the deliverer, length, target and outcome of all 15 AV corner kicks so far.
1.) @Arsenal 37th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 39 yards
Outcome: missed header
2.) @Arsenal, 42nd minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 42 yards
Outcome: missed header
3.) @Arsenal, 47th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 44 yards
Outcome: missed header
4.) @Chelsea, 63rd minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Weimann
Length: 35 yards
Outcome: defensed
5.) @Chelsea, 90th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 47 yards
Outcome: defensed
6.) vLiverpool, 41st minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Okore
Length: 44 yards
Outcome: missed header
7.) vLiverpool, 42nd minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Okore
Length: 46 yards
Outcome: defensed
8.) vLiverpool, 42nd minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Okore
Length: 48 yards
Outcome: missed header
9.) vLiverpool, 44th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 48 yards
Outcome: defensed
10.) vLiverpool, 60th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 48 yards
Outcome: no contact
11.) vLiverpool, 69th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 42 yards
Outcome: defensed
12.) vLiverpool, 86th minute
Deliverer: Bacuna
Target: Okore
Length: 53 yards
Outcome: defensed
13.) vNewcastle, 5th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 43 yards
Outcome: defensed
14.) vNewcastle, 50th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 52 yards
Outcome: no contact
15.) vNewcastle, 67th minute
Deliverer: Westwood
Target: Benteke
Length: 45 yards
Outcome: goal
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PAIN-ORAMIC VIEW
Below is a look at how many players on each PL club’s current official injury roster have previously been in the starting 11 this season.
4 Fulham (Berbatov, Hughes, Ruiz, Stekelenburg)
3 Arsenal (Rosicky, Podolski, Cazorla)
3 Liverpool (Agger, Coutinho, Johnson)
3 Tottenham (Capoue, Chadli, Dembele)
3 West Ham (Demal, Downing, Cole)
2 Hull City (Brady, Figueroa, Koren)
2 Everton (Pienaar, Kone)
2 Manchester City (Clichy, Silva)
2 Manchester United (Jones, Welbeck)
2 Newcastle (Ameobi, Gutierrez)
2 Swansea (Canas, Williams)
2 West Brom (Foster, Long)
1 Aston Villa (Okore)
1 Crystal Palace (Ward)
1 Norwich (Bennett)
1 Southampton (Fox)
1 Stoke City (Adam)
None: Cardiff, Chelsea, Sunderland.
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—Patrick Kinmartin (PKtype@Gmail.com ….. http://goo.gl/kLJDB)
Wasn’t some knob on here saying Guzan was the weak link! ……
Tonev and bacuna are shite
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwahh 1.o up the sexxxy lions ,lets all have a nice beer or two for the boys.Enjoy youre weekend bloggers.
Interesting stats, Patrick, cheers mate.