REVEALED: Tottenham man leads the way for chance creation

Despite leaving West Ham in January, Dimitri Payet is still the Premier League’s third most effective creator this season. The France international left the Hammers for Marseille at the turn of the year despite only leaving the Ligue 1 outfit for east London 18 months previously. Indeed, he has 74 key passes to his name in England’s top tier this term to reinforce a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘key passes’. 

Taking into account his Marseille performances and Payet has made more key passes (89) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues this season, with his eye for a defence splitting pass, and ability from deadball situations, helping to carve opponents apart. His return of 74 key passes is just ahead of the only English representative in the top 10 chance creators in the Premier League this season. 

Ross Barkley has failed to register a single minute the last seven times he has been called into the England squad, yet has played more key passes (67) than any other English performer this term. A lack of game time for the national team has rightly irked supporters considering he is perhaps playing near his best form, while his creative qualities would undoubtedly help England in the pursuit of victory. 

Across Stanley Park has Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino with 57 key passes this season, that the ninth best of 10 in the Premier League, with that return just above Chelsea star Eden Hazard (53). As one might expect, arguably the Premier League’s strongest creative duo feature in the top 10, with Manchester City pair David Silva (59) and Kevin De Bruyne (76), with the latter’s return the second highest in the Premier League. 

There is an honourable mention for Swansea star Gylfi Sigurdsson, with the Icelander the only current Premier League player to turn out for a team outside of the top-7. Sigurdsson is far and away the Swans’ highest rated player with a WhoScored rating of 7.28 and his creative talents will be required for Swansea in their bid to retain their Premier League status. 

To round off the final three, we head back to the capital, with Arsenal duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil both making the cut. Their current contracts at the Emirates run until 2018 and Arsenal are understandably keen to tie them down to long-term deals, with Alexis (65) ranking fifth and Ozil seventh (61) for key passes in the Premier League this season. 

The former, though, is set to depart for pastures new in the summer, which would be a significant blow for the Gunners with the Chilean’s WhoScored rating (7.84) second only to Hazard (7.89) in the Premier League this term. As for the top creator in England’s top tier, it’s just a short trip across north London to White Hart Lane, with Christian Eriksen (80) leading the way for key passes. 

The chances created haven’t gone to waste either, with Eriksen (10) second to Sigurdsson (11) for Premier League assists this season. The Dane started the season slowly, but is coming into his own at the business end of the campaign as Spurs strive to secure a top-4 finish.