Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars at http://fantasy.premierleague.com/ or with FIFA Ultimate Team for FIFA 14.
Everton were well beaten in the Merseyside Derby last time out, as they went down 4-0 to Liverpool at Anfield on Tuesday evening. Perhaps even more worrying to Roberto Martinez though will have been the injury picked up by Romelu Lukaku as well as the psychological impact of such a heavy defeat. He will no doubt have been working hard to ready his squad to pick themselves right back up this weekend.
The loss of Romelu Lukaku will be a huge blow for Martinez’s side, the young Belgian leading the Everton line with aplomb so far this season. He currently ranks fourth on the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for total on-target shooting attempts with 25. This represents an solid overall shot accuracy rate of 59.5% for the season to date.
With Lukaku now injured, expect part of the goal-scoring burden to fall on Kevin Mirallas, who has been Everton’s most consistent attacking threat after Lukaku this term. He’s racked up 38 attempts on goal this season, second only in the Everton squad to his Belgian compatriot with 42. Mirallas is 17/10 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.
Despite eventually coming out on the losing side, Gareth Barry certainly didn’t stop trying to positively influence the game in the heart of the Everton midfield. Barry completed the fourth highest number of passes in the opponent’s half in the last round, with 46 to his name.
With Bryan Oviedo now unfortunately ruled out for the foreseeable future, Leighton Baines has once again become Everton’s most effective active defender. Baines has an excellent tackle success rate of 85.2% from 61 attempted challenges, conceding just 11 fouls along the way, making it easy to see why the Toffees were so eager to tie him down to a long-term contract.
Aston Villa played out a thriller on Wednesday night as their remarkable West Midlands derby with West Brom ended 4-3 in Villa’s favour thanks to Christian Benteke’s penalty. An extraordinary first half ended 3-3 but Paul Lambert will know that his defence cannot afford to be so lax against a potent Everton side smarting from their own derby defeat.
The combative nature of Karim El Ahmadi has seen him draw the attention of the officials more than he would like so far this term. Although he has an excellent tackle success rate of 75.3% from 89 total challenges, he’s also racked up the joint fourth highest number of fouls in the league this season according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 37.
With Christian Benteke now starting to look as thought he is once again approaching his best form, some of the goalscoring pressure will be relieved from Gabriel Agbonlahor. The Englishman has responded well to some added responsibility up top for Villa this season though, his 21 attempts on goal meaning he’s scored on average once every 3 shots he’s taken. Agbonlahor is 4/1 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.
Although often unheralded due to the efficient way he goes about his work, Ashley Westwood has nonetheless been crucial to the Villa cause this term. He’s completed more passes in the opponent’s half than any other player in the Villa squad, with 436 to his name.
Ciaran Clark continues to grow into position as one of the senior members of the Villa squad and one of the first names on Paul Lambert’s team sheet. He’s amassed more defensive contributions than any of his colleagues this term, with a total of 218 putting him 37 ahead of his nearest rival in Ron Vlaar.
The Author
