Within England’s 30-man squad that took part in October’s European Qualifiers, 24 players have past EFL experience. Stars such as Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson have previously played for second and third division sides before making their breakthroughs at the top level. More recent examples include the likes of Reece James and Mason Mount, whose loan spells in the Championship rewarded them with first-team football for Chelsea.
The lower divisions are proving grounds for up and coming talents, so in this data analysis, we will look at players who could potentially step up to the Premier League and make it more likely you will be cashing out your football winnings when your team improves.
Passing Success
We will start by looking at the top players so far in the 2020/21 Championship for passing success, in comparison to the average number of passes per game they make. This will give us insight into who can complete the most amount of accurate passes.
The graph above includes the top 30 players in the league for pass success rate. We will be analysing five of them, along with providing reasons why they have been highlighted.
Tyrhys Dolan – The 18-year-old Blackburn winger is second-highest in the league in passing success with an impressive 91.6%. However, he is not a regular starter for Tony Mowbray’s side, and therefore only averages around 15.8 passes per game.
Josh Dasilva – The Brentford midfielder was rumoured to make a Premier League move in the summer, but after signing a four-year deal with the Bees in October, those reports were stamped out immediately. The 22-year-old has an 89.4% pass success rate and averages 48.7 passes per game.
Oliver Skipp – On loan from Tottenham Hotspur, Skipp has been an impressive addition to Norwich City’s side this season. The young Englishman has an 89.2% pass success rate while averaging 59.4 passes per game.
Xavi Quintillà – The second player from Norwich on the list, the Spaniard on loan from Villarreal rounds up the top 10 in the Championship for passing success rate (87.7%) while averaging 56.9 passes per game.
Jason Knight – at only 19 years old, the Derby players’ age is what helps him make the list. He has played in all seven games for the Rams, having an 86.4% pass success rate while making an average of 38.9 passes per game.
Key passes per game
Key passes are defined as passes that immediately create a clear goal-scoring opportunity for a teammate, who in turn fails to score. This is being compared to the average number of passes players make per game, letting us know who creates the most goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.
The graph above includes the top 20 players so far in the 2020/21 Championship for the average number of key passes per game. We will be selecting five to analyse.
Emiliano Buendía – The 23-year-old Argentinian was part of the Norwich team that was relegated from the Premiership last season. Currently, in the Championship, he is second for average number of key passes per game (2.8) and completes an average of 62.5 passes per game.
Gustavo Hamer – The Coventry City midfielder tops the charts for average number of key passes per game, with three every 90. Data shows also completes a total of 47.3 passes per game.
Morgan Gibbs-White – The 20-year-old Swansea City midfielder, on loan from Wolves, makes an average of 2.3 key passes per game while completing 37.3 passes per 90.
Josh Dasilva – The 22-year-old midfielder is once again high in the Championship charts, this time after completing two key passes and 48.7 passes per game.
Nicolas Ioannou – The Cyprian defender for Nottingham Forest completes two key passes per game and a total of 44.8 passes per 90. He is the final edition on this list due to his defensive position, and can still create attacking chances for his side.
Successful dribbles
Next, we will compare the total number of dribbles attempted to the successful number of dribbles made by Championship players.
Above we can see the top 20 players for the number of successful dribbles completed so far this Championship season. We will be analysing a select five.
Bright Osayi-Samuel – the 23-year-old Nigerian winger has made the most amount of dribbles so far in the Championship this season. He has completed 20 dribbles out of 32 attempts, averaging a 62.5% success rate.
Ben Brereton – the young English forward has completed 17 out of 27 dribbles so far this season, averaging a 63% dibble success rate.
Josh Dasilva – Once again the Bees midfielder makes another chart in England’s second division, this time in successful dribbles. The Arsenal academy graduate has completed 17 out of 26 dribbles so far, averaging a 65.4% success rate.
Kadeem Harris – Sheffield Wednesday got their winger on a free in the summer of 2019. So far this season, he has completed 18 out of 34 dribble attempts, resulting in a success rate of 52.9%.
Ovie Ejaria – Reading’s attacking midfielder has completed 16 out of 27 dribble attempts this season, helping his side maintain that top spot in the Championship so far this campaign. His dribble success rate is 59.3%.
Total number of assists
Even though only seven games have been played in the Championship, some players have managed to tally up an impressive number of assists so far this season.
Here we can see the top 15 players for the total number of assists completed at the time of writing. We will once again analyse five players.
Tyrese Campbell – at only 20-years-old, Stoke City’s attacking midfielder has made four assists across six appearances, even though he has only completed 318 minutes played. That’s an average of one assist every 80 minutes. The wide man has also managed to pick up two goals along the way.
Bryan Mbeumo – Brentford’s French winger has completed three assists across seven games, averaging an assist every 183 minutes played. He has also made 11 key passes and scored one goal.
Jake Bidwell – the 27-year-old has racked up three assists from seven games, with two of them coming from crosses. Averaging an assist every 210 minutes played, he has also made eight key passes and scored one goal
Michael Olise – Reading’s 18-year-old has completed three assists in seven games, averaging one every 174 minutes played. He has made 10 key passes and scored one goal.
Ben Brereton – the 21-year-old once again makes another list, having made two assists in his 532 minutes played. The Blackburn player has also completed 12 key passes and scored one goal.
Accurate crosses
We will now look at the highest rates of accurate crosses players have achieved so far in the Championship. These statistics will be compared with their total number of completed crosses altogether.
Here we can see the top 20 for the total number of accurate crosses so far this season. Using analysis we will select five to consider.
Xavi Quintillà – once again the Spaniard is included in the top charts, this time due to his accurate cross rate of 22.8%. This has resulted in the left-back completing 21 accurate crosses throughout his league games played.
Jed Wallace – Millwall’s right midfielder has averaged an accurate cross rate of 32.2% so far this season, having made 19 successful crosses in his appearances so far.
Iván Sánchez – even though he is 28-years-old, Birmingham’s right midfielder still could be in contention to be picked up by a Premier League side. He has an impressive cross rate of 41.67%, resulting in 15 balls into the box reaching a teammate.
Gustavo Hamer – Coventry City’s Dutch midfielder makes another list, this time due to his high crossing rate of 52.6%. This has contributed to 10 of his crosses finding teammates in the box.
Daniel Barlaser – Rotherham’s 23-year-old midfielder has the highest successful crossing rate throughout the top 20 players for accurate crosses. His rate of 61.54% has contributed to him making eight accurate crosses so far this season.
Creative goalkeepers
Finally, we will be looking at what goalkeepers are capable of creating chances, through short and long distribution.
Here we see the top 20 goalkeepers for the total number of accurate long balls in the Championship so far. Additionally, we have also included the total number of accurate short passes completed. We will be analysing a select five, considering their age within the selection.
Jamal Blackman – the 26-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Chelsea has completed the third-highest number of long balls in the Championship this season (68). He totals six accurate short passes so far this season, and per game, he completes 35% of his long balls.
Ben Hamer – the 32-year-old is the oldest out of the select five, but with good reason. He has completed 67 long balls and an impressive 129 short passes so far this season. Per game, he completes 79% of passes within his own half.
Rafael Cabral – Reading’s Brazilian shot-stopper is the third highlighted goalie on this list. He has completed 55 long balls so far this season, along with 128 short passes to his teammates. Per game, Rafael has a 91% pass accuracy within his own half and a 43% long ball accuracy to teammates up the pitch.
Adam Davies – the 28-year-old from Wales has completed 58 long balls and 64 short passes to his Stoke City teammates this season. His passing accuracy is 81% to teammates within his half per game, along with 39% of his long balls reaching players past the halfway line.
Alex Smithies – finally, we have selected Cardiff City’s English goalkeeper, who has completed the most amount of long balls as a goalkeeper in the Championship so far. The 30-year-old has made 91 accurate long passes to his teammates, and 15 accurate short passes. Per game, he completes 48% of all long passes up the field.
Conclusion
Players in the Championship nearly always aspire to play in the top division, and we believe the ones listed above could make the jump to a Premiership side. Standout players include the likes of Josh Dasilva, who has remarkable passing and dribbling abilities, Bright Osayi-Samuel, who has completed the most amount of dribbles in the league so far, and Emiliano Buendía, who came down from the Premiership with Norwich City and has more than enough ability to go back up and be competitive.
Last transfer window, nine players moved up to the top division in English football, and when the next one opens on January 1st, more will be sure to join them.
