Morgan Rodgers was Aston Villa’s winner against West Ham on Sunday. Erling Haaland scored two more goals for Manchester City against Crystal Palace.
But who will be the Premier League’s biggest game changer?
‘Between the Lines’ reveals which players’ goals and assists have earned their club the most points this season and historically.
Bruno right in front of Rodgers
Bruno Fernandes continues to show his worth in another difficult season for Manchester United and will be at the top of the table this season.
His four goals and six assists gave Ruben Amorim’s side a whopping 13 points heading into the game against Bournemouth, which will be shown live on Sky Sports on Monday Night Football.
Fernandes’ involvement in three goals in Manchester United’s final match against Wolves was the difference between a draw and a win, giving his team two points. Previously, in a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace, he assisted both goals and took the three points.
Rodgers is second on the list for goal involvement with 12 points for third-placed Aston Villa, and that total also includes the three points he picked up with a double against West Ham on Sunday.
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Jamie Carragher praised Aston Villa’s Morgan Rodgers after his excellent performance against West Ham on Sunday
The England international has only contributed eight goals and assists for Unai Emery’s side in the Premier League, but with the exception of his assist in the 3-1 win over Fulham in September, all of them have been game-changing.
In total, he is two points ahead of Haaland. The Manchester City striker has been involved in nearly twice as many goals as any other Premier League player this season, registering 17 goals and three assists, but has had a direct impact on the result in just seven of those games.
Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo has not scored since scoring twice against Fulham in October, but he ranks third on points with Everton’s Jack Grealish and Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike with nine.
Bruno’s unparalleled importance to Manchester United
Another way to measure a player’s impact is to look at whose goal involvements earned them the highest percentage of points for their team. Once again, it’s Fernandes who comes out on top this season.
The 31-year-old’s goals and assists have taken him to more than half of Manchester United’s 25 points after 15 games.
Semenyo is second despite failing to get involved in goals recently, with Brentford striker Igor Thiago in third, with his 11 goals taking 40 per cent of the team’s 20 points.
Grealish is close behind him on 38 per cent and his six goal involvements this season have all had a direct impact on Everton’s results.
Rodgers, Ekitike, Newcastle’s Bruno Guimarães, Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka, West Ham’s Callum Wilson and Brighton striker Danny Welbeck make up the rest of the top ten.
Salah is the ultimate game changer
Fernandes is leading the way this season, but considering past seasons going back to 2010/11, it is Mohamed Salah who has emerged as the Premier League’s biggest game-changer, despite his much talked about lack of form this season.
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Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah recorded an assist in Saturday’s match against Brighton.
Salah’s total of 280 goals in the Premier League equates to 177 points, just ahead of Harry Kane’s 173, underscoring the magnitude of his contribution to Liverpool.
Former Leicester striker Jamie Vardy has the third-highest points total from goal involvement with 127, while Kane’s former Spurs teammate Son Heung-min is fourth with 106 and Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero is fifth with 104.
In addition to having the highest points total, Salah also has the team’s highest percentage of points from goal involvement since the 2010-11 season, with his 45.2 per cent last season just ahead of Robin van Persie’s 42.7 per cent for Manchester United in 2012-13.
Naturally, Salah’s performance has declined this season. He has played 14 games in the Premier League so far, scoring just four goals and providing three assists.
However, it is worth noting that, as shown below, these goal involvements still netted 23 per cent of Liverpool’s total points, which is a higher percentage than in his previous three seasons at the club.
So was he right to suggest he was unfairly singled out in what has been a difficult campaign for everyone at the club? This number suggests he is still making a useful contribution.
And while Fernandes has led the way this term, there is no doubt that Salah has been the Premier League’s biggest game-changer over the past 15 years.
read between the lines last week
93 injuries in 18 months? In last week’s edition, we took a closer look at Arsenal’s ongoing injury problems and the ramifications of losing players in their positions.
