Christian Eriksen has managed to overtake Dimitri Payet in terms of the total number of chances created in the league this season, according to the Evening Standard. Eriksen has created 78 chances so far this season and reached the number in Tottenham’s previous league game against Everton. It was a close game where Spurs managed to edge out as 3-2 winners eventually.
Eriksen has assisted 10 goals this season and is on top of the assists chart in the Premier League right now. He is tied with Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson on 10 assists and is closely followed by Kevin De Bruyne and Alexis Sanchez, both of whom have registered 9 assists.
Dimitri Payet, however, had 6 assists to his name at the time of his departure from West Ham United. He had created 74 chances for the Hammers when he left and was a key player for the London club. Payet now plays in the French Ligue1 for Marseille and has scored 2 goals for them in the league. He hasn’t provided any assists since moving to France.
Eriksen is the major source of attacking threat for Tottenham and the gameplay revolves around him. It was the same with Payet as well until he decided to move away from England. De Bruyne is a crucial player for his team as well and has 71 chances for Manchester City so far this season.
The key stat about Eriksen is his ability to play key passes to open up the opposition. None of the pass masters mentioned above have managed to play as many key passes as Eriksen, who has 67 key passes to his name. However, Payet comes close with 66 key passes to his name and the fact that he reached this number back in January speaks volumes about Payet’s quality.
Payet played a total of 18 league games before leaving West Ham, while Eriksen has made 26 appearances for Tottenham in the Premier League. A lot can be blamed on the slow start that Eriksen made to the season. However, Payet hit the ground running since the start of the 2016/17 season and he was on fire right from the beginning.
Comparing Eriksen’s and Payet’s numbers now would be completely unfair as Payet isn’t involved in the league anymore. However, Eriksen’s ability to create so many chances for his team underlines his value at White Hart lane. Despite Payet creating numerous chances, it is Eriksen who has provided more assists to his teammates. A lot can be owed to the fact that there is a huge difference in quality between the Tottenham and West Ham strikers.
Nevertheless, both players are of extreme quality and kudos to them for being the stalwarts that they are.
Stats courtesy of Evening Standard’s report.
