Welcome to The Debrief. In his Sky Sports column, Adam Bate combines data and opinion to examine the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. this week:
Bournemouth’s incredibly fast start explained A closer look at the dynamic duo in Sunderland’s midfield A rare threat for Leeds from Rodon’s corner Shade’s pace is unstoppable after Andrews’ advice
Fast start for Bournemouth
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Watch for free: Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest match highlights
Bournemouth took 25 minutes to find a breakthrough in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest. In fact, Andoni Iraola’s side have taken an early lead in the majority of their nine Premier League games so far this season.
This is a remarkable statistic considering Premier League leaders Arsenal have not led for more than 30 minutes in their last eight games in this competition. When it comes to quick starts to games, it’s the Cherries, not the Gunners, who are second to none.
It reflects the intensity of their football under coach Iraola. Speaking to Sky Sports about this last season, he explained: “You have to play to your strengths. That’s why it helps to have a young team with players who can play with high rhythm and energy.”
Perhaps that youthful vigor partly explains his late goals, which came after 89 minutes in each of the three games leading up to the win against Forest. But the fact that Bournemouth get off to a much faster start than their opponents is all down to Iraola’s approach.
They ran the most distance at high intensity in the first five minutes and set the tone by running 10% more than the next best team. It’s a characteristic that has become a trademark and a favorite of neutrals.
Sunderland’s Sadiki revelations
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Watch for free: Chelsea vs Sunderland highlights
Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki are quickly establishing themselves as a dynamic duo in the Premier League, with the Sunderland pair being the only two to cover more than 100km in the competition so far this season. It’s a partnership of sorts.
This statistic has been used to negate the idea that Sadiki is there to provide complementary legs to Xhaka’s Nous, proving that the 33-year-old midfielder is still capable of covering ground. But to suggest that Sadiki is just an athlete is also an understatement.
Sunderland duo Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki have covered the most ground this season
Consider Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris’ comments when Sadiki arrived from Union Saint Giroise in the summer. “What stood out right away was his calmness on the ball, ability to manage rhythm and maturity in decision-making.”
Sadiki’s passing map for Sunderland in this season’s Premier League
Genius IQ data shows that Sadiki has an 87.58 percent pass success rate, but when you take into account the positioning of everyone on the pitch and the difficulty of the passes attempted, those passes have an expected success rate of 84.07 percent, which is 3.51 points lower.
Sadiki, 20, has proven to be the ideal partner for Xhaka in the middle of the pitch, and the pairing has helped propel Sunderland to surprising heights. But while Xhaka has definitely shown that he can run, Sadiki has also shown that he can play.
Radon threat from corners
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Free to watch: Highlights of Leeds vs. West Ham’s Premier League victory
Joe Rodon’s header in Leeds’ 2-1 win over West Ham was the Irons’ ninth goal conceded from a corner kick in the Premier League this season. The opposing team has never allowed more than three players. And there is no excuse for not anticipating Rodon’s threat.
This is the ninth time this season that the Wales centre-back has won with first contact from a corner into the box. By the way, the second most by any other Premier League player is 5 times. He became a real weapon in the opposition box.
Rodon scored at the same end of the Elland Road pitch against Bournemouth earlier this season, much to the delight of manager Daniel Farke. “He’s an increasing goal threat,” Falke said at the time. “I used to moan about it all the time. I had his back about it.”
Joe Rodon posed a real threat for Leeds inside the opposition penalty area.
Now, Rodon has achieved his second goal of the season. It was a triumphant return to the top division for a player who struggled to earn a regular place at Tottenham in his younger years, thanks to solid performances at the other end of the pitch.
Coach Falke recently described him as having grown considerably and becoming “more mature.” “He’s a much better player than he was three years ago and he’s already proven he can do it.” And now Rodon is adding that goal threat to his game as well.
Andrews predicts Schade’s goal
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Free to watch: Brentford outclass Liverpool to win 3-2
You’ve probably seen the clip from the summer of Brentford’s 3-2 win over Liverpool on Saturday night, with Keith Andrews playing from the left wing and Liverpool scoring an outside-in run, discussing the possibilities for Kevin Shade.
“When you win on the opposite side of where you are, you get goals,” Andrews told Shade. “The right-back is here,” he added, gesturing to go onto the pitch. So it was proven when Conor Bradley was caught trying to push and Schade scored a run to Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool’s Conor Bradley was keeping his team in possession and moving forward
Kevin Shade runs through the Brentford goal to score against Liverpool
Brentford’s Kevin Shade is the fastest player in the Premier League this season
One thing is for sure, once he steps back, he won’t be able to catch the 23-year-old flyer. Schade has recorded a top speed of 37.44km/h in the Premier League this season, making him the fastest man in the competition. Andrews believes there is more to come.
“Right from the start of pre-season, we felt he was ready for the next step to become more prominent in the team,” he said after Schade’s goal against Chelsea last month. Now, Liverpool are also feeling the power of his unstoppable pace.
