Premier League Key Players Part 2

Last week we focused on the top ten teams in the division and looked at which players have enjoyed the most success for their respective teams this season.

To keep it simple we have set two parameters:

1. The player must have played at least seven games for his team.
2. A ‘game’ constitutes at least 60 minutes on the pitch.

We then record how many points the team gained when a player fitted the above criteria. For example if Steven Gerrard played ten games (lasting at least 60min) and Liverpool won every game, Steven Gerrard would average 3 points per game.

The table below shows the players who have enjoyed the most success, by points per game, for their respective teams.

Leading Points Earners Per Team

Figures compiled from games up to the 18th December 2011.

You will see we have added an ‘influence’ metric; this is the team’s overall points per game average compared to points earned when the ‘key’ footballer is playing. The higher the influence, the bigger the impact on the team’s result that player has.

Compared to teams in the top half the ‘influence’ metric is much higher. With sides like Bolton earning so few points, being in the starting XI for one or two positive results can hint at a larger influence than probably is the case.

An interesting trend is the number of midfielders in the list; other than Scott Dann and perhaps Moussa Dembele, you could class all the players as midfielders. This goes against conventional wisdom which proclaims a goal scoring centre forward as the key to avoiding relegation.

One player who deserves highlighting is Wigan’s Jordi Gomez. All the Latics’ best results have come when the Spaniard is in the team; in the seven games where he has played more than 60minutes, Wigan’s results read: WDLDWWD.

Adel Taarabt is also an interesting player. A key member of QPR’s promotion campaign last year, the mercurial Moroccan has been warming the bench in recent months, coinciding with his team’s decline. Seemingly destined to leave the club in January, could Neil Warnock be letting one of his key players go?

It is worth repeating this analysis must be taken with a pinch of salt given the very shallow level of the data. But we hope it provides a slightly different thought process and approach to football betting.