It is frowned upon in this day and age to rely on goals and assists when passing judgement on a player. There are far too many no-lifers on social media creating fake roles and making every player inverted and it is beyond sickening.
We are not making up anything but we are throwing basic statistics out of the window, because quite often it fails to tell the full story. Here are six Premier League players who have misleading stats this season and are actually performing a lot better than their numbers suggest. We must admit, it is very easy to veer toward attacking players in this situation, so we have tried not to.
Premier League players who have misleading stats this season
Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Our inspiration, Rogers took six games to get his first goal contribution of the season, notching two assists in the comeback victory over Midlands rivals Wolves. He got his first goal a week later at Ipswich Town.
Deeper numbers tell more of a story for the 22-year-old, who completed five take-ons against Arsenal, four against Young Boys in his Champions League debut and five again at home to Bayern Munich. He has been a real driving force for the Aston Villa attack under Unai Emery, helping them become one of the most dangerous teams in transition and keeping big-money signings Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia out of the starting XI.
We can’t believe Villa got Rogers for a measly £8million from Middlesbrough in February. The fee could rise to £16m but that is still an absolute steal. He did quite well in the second half of last season but has taken his game to another level, one we did not think was possible mere months after joining. We would say it’s only a matter of time until he’s starting for England but the attacking talent in front of him is scary and just as youthful.
READ NEXT: The Premier League uncapped XI features Morgan Rogers and a Liverpool midfield
Moises Caicedo (Chelsea)
Not quite playing at a £100m level yet, Caicedo has improved a great deal since Enzo Maresca became Chelsea head coach. Players like Caicedo should never be judged on goals and assists, which is why it is easier to be biased towards attacking players in this instance. Regardless, we feel like he is going under the radar and having only one goal contribution in seven games does help justify his inclusion.
Incidentally, his best performance in a Blues shirt arguably came in the win at West Ham last month, which is when he registered his lone assist. His outstanding afternoon came on a ground where he endured a dire debut for the club, exorcising those demons in a convincing victory.
Caicedo is looking tidier in possession under Maresca and his defensive numbers are impressive, averaging 3.95 tackles and 1.46 interceptions per 90. He is finally looking like the player Chelsea signed from Brighton.
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Iliman Ndiaye (Everton)
Everton are not the best when it comes to signing players but they have nailed it with Ndiaye, who spent 2023/24 at Marseille after leaving Sheffield United for around £13m. The Toffees bought him for a little bit more and the Senegalese has found it no bother whatsoever adapting to the Premier League.
Everton’s start to the season has been miserable but they are gradually improving. Ndiaye did not start either of their opening two matches – 3-0 and 4-0 defeats to Brighton and Tottenham, respectively – and there was a shift when he started against Bournemouth on matchday three. Is it a coincidence that he went off in the 83rd minute with the score at 2-0 Everton and they lost 3-2? You can be the judge of that.
Ndiaye got his first goal contribution in the draw at Leicester and has played the full 90 of the Toffees’ last two matches, neither of which they lost. We are starting to think that the Bournemouth result might not have been a coincidence.
Zero goals and one assist in seven games does not tell you just how important Ndiaye is rapidly becoming for Everton.
Mads Hermansen (Leicester City)
Leicester have only managed one clean sheet this season, which does not do Hermansen justice. He has been bloody brilliant.
Against Arsenal, the 24-year-old made a ridiculous 13 saves, the most in a Premier League game since 2017. He was only forced to make two saves in the 1-0 win over Bournemouth but is proving to be an excellent shot-stopper and someone Leicester will do very well to keep hold of if they get relegated.
Clean sheets is a pretty deceiving stat and you’d be foolish to base your opinion of a goalkeeper solely on that. David de Gea won the Golden Glove in his last season at Manchester United. Need we say more?
Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
Mitoma missed a lot of football last term but is back to his best under Fabian Hurzeler, the youngest manager in Premier League history.
The Japanese winger does not take a lot of shots or create an awful lot of clear-cut chances but he is someone Hurzeler depends on both defensively and going forward. His ball-carrying ability is outstanding and he is rarely dispossessed, while contributing with tackles all over the pitch. It is very important that Mitoma stays fit for Brighton this season.
Jurrien Timber (Arsenal)
The only defender here, Arsenal’s Timber is the biggest Like A New Signing player in the Premier League this season having missed all but 71 minutes last season due to an ACL injury. An injury like that is the last thing a new player wants but the only benefit is that Timber was able to get used to living in London (it is easy to forget he turned 23 in June) and being at Arsenal.
He has seamlessly slotted into the Arsenal starting XI as a right and left-back and looks like he has been in Arteta’s team for years. Defensively, the Dutchman is outstanding but offensively against Leicester in the 4-2 win, he was incredible, creating one big chance, making nine shot-creating actions, completing one take-on and entering the penalty area a colossal 11 times.
And yes, we are aware that these are stats in a piece about players performing better than their stats suggest. The question is, did you know about these stats beforehand? And if not, there you go.
