Chelsea were handed a timely boost in the chase for Nabil Fekir last night. The Lyon forward has been on a number of Premier League teams' radars for some time now, with the Blues and Liverpool chasing his signature last summer. It looked as if Liverpool would win the race for the 25-year-old, only for a deal to collapse at the 11th hour. The two teams are back in for him this month and they were boosted by the news that Fekir had been left out of the Lyon squad for the Coupe de France clash with Bourges Foot this weekend. There is much talk that Fekir could be on the move this month, and while the frontman was probably rested for the cup game, no explanation about his absence set tongues wagging about a potential departure from Ligue Un. We thought we'd take a look at the stats, courtesy of Wyscout, behind the Frenchman's season so far and why Chelsea and Liverpool are so interested in him. Goals Fekir has seven goals in 18 games for the French team so far this season, playing in a front three normally with Bertrand Traore and Mephis Depay. The 25-year-old is averaging 0.48 goals per game, which is better than any of Chelsea's forwards, including the two strikers, bar Eden Hazard, who is averaging slightly more at 0.49 per game. Expected goals xG is a common form of research these days, with clubs looking at how many goals forwards are expected to score given the chances they have. Of the current Chelsea forwards, only Hazard and Pedro are outscoring their xG totals, which Fekir is also doing. Averaging 0.48 goals per game, his xG is currently at 0.44 for Lyon. Assists In a front three, there is a lot of interchanging and Fekir is averaging 0.28 assists per game, too. Again, that's better than every one of Chelsea's other forwards, bar Hazard who averages 0.33. Shots This is where Fekir comes into his own. Not only does he average more than one shot more than every single Chelsea forward, he has a better percentage on target (45.5%) than everyone, again with the exception of Hazard (45.7%). Passes This is an area where Maurizio Sarri's current players are expected to shine, and they do. Willian, Pedro and Hazard all average more than 50 passes per game, with Fekir at only 36.17 passes per game for Lyon. His passing success rate (84.7%) is pretty similar to the current Blues crop, however, with Pedro standing out in that category with 86.8% success rate. Crosses Fekir is the most successful crosser of the ball when stacked up against the Chelsea players. He puts the ball into the box on fewer occasions on average than Willian and Pedor, but is more accurate with them (43.4%). All the Chelsea forwards' crossing stats are below 40% accuracy. Dribbles Fekir tries an average of 7.07 dribbles per game, with a 68.6% success rate. Hazard is by far and away the leader in terms of quantity for Chelsea, trying 11.39 per game, although Willian has the most success (78.2%). A table of Fekir in comparison to the Chelsea forwards is
The stats that show why Chelsea are desperate to beat Liverpool to Nabil Fekir - YouTube |
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