EPL

Premier League 2021-22: Sancho, Daka and the exciting newcomers

By Sports Desk August 12, 2021

The new Premier League season is on the horizon and there are plenty of exciting new signings to keep an eye on.

Jack Grealish has moved within the league for a record £100million fee, while a familiar face in Romelu Lukaku is set to return to England's top flight.

Premier League fans can also look forward to watching plenty of new stars, though.

Stats Perform picks out four exciting additions...
 

Jadon Sancho

An England international who has never played in English football, Sancho will garner plenty of attention at Manchester United this season – and rightly so.

Since the start of the 2018-19 season, Sancho has the joint-most goal involvements among English players in Europe's top five leagues, his 78 matched by Three Lions captain Harry Kane.

Those involvements arrived once every 87 minutes on average and included 41 assists, trailing only Thomas Muller (48) and Lionel Messi (43) in that regard.

Sancho left Borussia Dortmund on a high with May's DFB-Pokal final triumph, but the 2019-20 campaign was arguably his best.

The winger had 17 goals and 16 assists in the league; over the past 10 seasons, only Eden Hazard, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez have also tallied at least 15 goals and 15 assists in the same season.

And Sancho now joins a United side who last term already had six players with 10 or more goal involvements in all competitions (Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba).

Patson Daka

Leicester City have now firmly established themselves as one of the leading clubs in the Premier League, but Jamie Vardy's advancing years had provided a worry on the horizon. The Foxes great has been a key man for so long.

But there were signs of Leicester moving on from their reliance on Vardy last season as Kelechi Iheanacho scored 12 times in the Premier League.

Now, the arrival of Daka could really put Vardy's place under pressure.

The Zambia forward scored 27 goals in 28 league games for Salzburg in 2020-21, adding four assists for a remarkable goal involvement every 63 minutes. By comparison, Vardy delivered every 119 minutes and Iheanacho every 104 minutes.

Despite playing fewer minutes, Daka (101) attempted significantly more shots than Vardy (82) and scored with a greater share of them, too (26.7 per cent versus 18.3 per cent).

Still just 22, Daka looks a great fit for the veteran Vardy's role, taking a comparable 19 per cent of his touches last season in the penalty area (23 per cent for Vardy).

Cristian Romero

The Kane transfer saga is providing an unhelpful distraction, but Tottenham are making moves, bringing in Bryan Gil and Pierluigi Gollini alongside Romero.

The centre-back should be suited to the Premier League, having established himself as one of the most aggressive, physically dominant defenders in Serie A.

Romero ranked ninth among all Serie A players for aerial duel success last season (68 per cent), putting him ahead of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Matthijs de Ligt.

This was particularly impressive as only 15 players contested more aerial duels per 90 than Romero (5.9).

The Argentina international – who has joined from Atalanta on an initial loan – is an impressive defender on the ground, too, making 3.4 interceptions per 90 to rank second in the division.

He should bolster a Spurs defence now without Toby Alderweireld.

Raphael Varane

There are no shortage of centre-back signings in the Premier League. Ibrahima Konate has arrived at Liverpool but faces a fight to be first choice. The same is not true of Varane.

United hope the World Cup winner can team up with Harry Maguire to make Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side genuine title contenders.

Like Romero, Varane is dominant in the air, leading LaLiga defenders with his 76 per cent success rate in aerial duels last season.

That is an area of need for United, too, as only Leeds United (15) conceded more goals from set-pieces last season excluding penalties than the Red Devils (14).

United conceded a league-high 32 per cent of their goals against in this fashion.

And Varane will also look to set Sancho and Co on their way, having initiated 22 open play sequences that ended with a shot in 2020-21 – behind only Clement Lenglet (24) among LaLiga centre-backs.

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  • Analysing the attacks in a thrilling Championship promotion race Analysing the attacks in a thrilling Championship promotion race

    The Championship returns from the international break with, much like the Premier League, a three-horse tussle at the top.

    Leicester City, having led the standings for the majority of the campaign, now find themselves in second place behind Leeds United, albeit with a game in hand on the in-form Whites.

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    Ipswich Town

    Of these three teams, Ipswich have scored the most goals, with Kieran McKenna's side netting 80 across their 38 matches - an average of 2.1 per game. That makes the Tractor Boys the leading scorers in the league, while they are also the leading team for non-penalty goals (78).

    Ipswich have, however, greatly outperformed their expected goals (xG) of 64.2, while also greatly exceeding their non-penalty xG (61.8). When it comes to those metrics, they rank fourth and second in the second tier respectively. Their expected goals on target (xGOT) figure of 69.5 shows their finishing has been above the standard of what would be anticipated from the quality of chances, and they rank third in the league in this aspect.

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    But how do Ipswich create their chances? Well, they aren't afraid to send crosses into the area, with their 114 successful open-play crosses ranking second. However, it's Ipswich's high press that really stands out.

    They have forced 309 high turnovers (winning the ball back within 40 yards of the opponent's goal), at an average of 8.1 per match. They lead the league for shot-ending high turnovers, with 65, albeit they are tied for fifth when it comes to scoring goals from such scenarios (seven). McKenna's team are certainly able to go direct, too, given they rank down at 10th for sequences of 10+ passes. 

     

    Don't bet against Ipswich if they go behind, meanwhile. They have gained 28 points from a losing position, topping the Championship.

    And when they get the lead, Ipswich typically hold onto it, with only two teams dropping fewer points from a winning position.

    Leicester City

    Ranking behind Ipswich for goals scored are Leicester, with 74 to their name. The Foxes are also second in the Championship for xG (68) and for xGOT (73.5).

    It is worth noting that Leicester have been more reliant on penalties, having scored 12 goals from the spot. 

    Leicester have mustered the fifth-highest tally of shots (525), while their 189 shots on target ranks fourth in the division.

    But in which metrics do Leicester top the Championship? Enzo Maresca's team lead the way for shot conversion (14.1 per cent), big chances (111) and big chances scored (50).

    Leicester are hardly a pressing machine off the ball, having averaged just 7.4 high turnovers per game, but what the Foxes lack in quantity they make up for in quality – they have scored a joint league-leading eight goals from those situations.

    Maresca's men do not particularly look to cross at a high volume, though when they do put deliveries in, they are often on point. Leicester are 19th out of 24 teams for total open-play crosses, yet they rank third for successful open-play deliveries.

    If teams go ahead against Leicester, however, then the Foxes are not the best at coming from behind, having gained only 10 points from such positions this term.

    Leeds United

    So, what about Leeds, the league leaders heading into the Easter weekend?

    Leeds have accumulated more xG than any other Championship team, at 68.4, while 62.9 of that total has come from non-penalty shots. However, they rank down in fourth for both goals (70) and non-penalty goals (65). Interestingly, the Whites' xGOT is 69.2, so they have been finishing slightly above what would be expected from chances they have crafted.

     

    Daniel Farke's team are the Championship leaders for high turnovers, with 319, while their average of 11 passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA), which measures how often a team presses their opponent, is the second highest in the competition.

    Leeds have been exceptionally effective from this high press, too. They have had the third-highest shots (61) and, along with Leicester, lead the Championship for goal-ending high turnovers, with eight.

    The Whites may only have got 201 of their 586 shots on target, with an 11.9 per cent shot conversion rate, but they are excellent at creating quality chances, ranking second for big chances (102), which are defined by Opta as an opportunity from which a player would be reasonably expected to score.

    Should Leeds take a lead, then they are excellent at holding onto it. They have dropped the fewest points (four) of any Championship team from winning positions, while they rank second for points gained from losing positions (21).

    Unlike Leicester or Ipswich, there is no focus at all on crossing, or quality crossing, from Leeds. Farke's side actually rank 23rd for both open-play crosses and successful open-play deliveries. Perhaps forcing them wide will be the only way their opponents can keep them out in the run-in?

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