Sport
Five Premier League players who have surprised us all
With the season already a quarter of the way through, we decided to take a look at five Premier League players who have surprised us all with their performances so far.
Tammy Abraham
Frank Lampard: “I won’t get carried away with anything about this performance. Tammy’s a goalscorer and he’s hungry for goals.
Chelsea’s number nine curse has claimed some high profile victims over the years, with Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Alvaro Morata and Gonzalo Higuain each flopping during their time at the club.
Chelsea had no choice but to turn away from high profile signings and trust the youth this summer following their transfer ban and, as such, Abraham was given his chance. Boy has he taken it.
Alongside Mason Mount, who himself only missed out on this list owing to a ‘one player per club’ rule, Abraham has scored eight league goals in the league putting him just one behind the current Golden Boot leader, Jamie Vardy.
His efforts equate to 56% of Chelsea’s league goals so far, at an impressive rate of one every 92 minutes, and have helped The Blues into fourth place in the league.
Having scored two more than Harry Kane, Abraham is currently the leading non-retired England footballer and will surely be given more opportunities to stake his claim in the national side before Euro 2020 begins.
Teemu Pukki
Darren Huckerby: “I think Pukki will do well. He probably won’t score 30 goals, let’s be honest, but if he can score 15 goals next season that will probably be enough to keep Norwich in the Premier League”
As the summer drew to a close, Pukki-fever swept the country. The flying Finn had scored six Premier League goals in his first five matches, making a mockery of any suspicions that he wouldn’t be able to continue his prolific 29-goal Championship season in the top flight.
Unfortunately for him, and Norwich, that was when the goals dried up. As injuries ravaged Daniel Farke’s side, their chance creation dropped and so has Pukki’s finishing. Having scored nine goals from an xG of 6.93 in their first five matches, an overperformance of 2.07 goals, Norwich have netted two from an expected goal tally of 4.66 since, an underperformance on 2.66.
Whether Pukki ultimately deserves a place on this list will become evident as the months wear on but, for now, six goals in ten games is a majestic return for the Finn who will surely have suitors if Norwich fall through the trap door next May.
Joel Ward
Roy Hodgson: “We’ve got enormous problems at the back at the moment. We really don’t have any defenders to speak of. Aaron’s gone and we’ve got three others injured. We will have to do the best we can to make sure we replace him in some way.”
Replacing Aaron Wan-Bissaka, following his departure to Manchester United, seemed to be an impossible task. The young Englishman made more tackles than any other defender in the Premier League last season and the third most in the league.
Palace made cursory bids for several replacements but didn’t manage to land one, so were ultimately forced to restore Joel Ward, the man who Wan-Bissaka had replaced, into the team. The Eagles have hardly noticed a difference.
Ward has made 25 tackles, the 13th most in the league and the 17th most headed clearances. Consequentially, Palace have the sixth best defensive record in the league and find themselves sixth in the table as a result, a place above Wan-Bissaka’s United.
With the £50m they received from Wan-Bissaka still burning a hole in Palace’s pockets, it’s looking less and less likely that right back is a position that they will need to strengthen.
Adrian
Jurgen Klopp: “He is a very confident guy and I don’t think he wanted to sit only on the bench for the next couple of years. He made himself ready. It is a situation but, if you are in a situation like this, you want to have somebody who have played in the league and who is experienced.”
Following his release by West Ham, Spanish goalkeeper Adrian was snapped up by Liverpool following the departures of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius. With arguably the league’s best goalie, Alisson, ahead of him, many thought that Adrian would be restricted to the appearances in the cup.
However, when Alisson was injured in Liverpool’s season opener, Adrian was given an opportunity much sooner than expected and he grasped it with both hands.
Liverpool won their next seven consecutive matches in the league conceding just five goals. To make matters all the sweeter, Liverpool then dropped their first points of the season in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United in Alisson’s first match back.
There was never any doubt that Alisson would reclaim his place as soon as he was fit again but Liverpool can now be confident that they have a worthy number two ready to step in should Alisson miss any further games.
Çağlar Söyüncü
Brendan Rodgers: “He arrived with a big reputation, they’ve spent a lot of money on him, I’d heard about him before, before he was linked with coming to England, as a young lad. He’s been really impressive. He’s the future of the club without a doubt.”
Harry who? Manchester United made two huge defensive signings this summer. The replacement for one of them sits third on this list and the replacement for the other sits fifth.
As Leicester have risen to third in the league with the joint best defence, Söyüncü has been an absolute wall, which is appropriate as his name looks like a graffiti tag.
He has made 25 headed clearances, the 12th most in the league, but it is really his marking, positioning and composure on the ball that have stood out, with some Manchester United fans surely wondering whether they have purchased the right defender. With the underrated Jonny Evans beside him and the pair flanked by two of the best full backs in the league, Leicester haven’t had it this good since they became champions.
