Arsenal's Mesut Ozil one of the most active players in the Premier League

Mesut Ozil who turned 27 has one of the highest work rates

Mesut Ozil has recently come under a lot of criticism for supposedly having a very low work-rate, but the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index reveals a completely different story. According to statistics, the German who turned 27 years old today is one of the most hard working players on the pitch.

When Ozil's average distance covered per 90 minutes played was compared with other top players in the Premier League, the birthday boy came out on top. He was even higher than his teammate Alexis Sanchez who is heralded for his high work rate.

The reality though is quite ironic, as Ozil who is criticized for being lazy at times ranks very high in terms of distance covered and Sanchez who seems active on pitch covered one of the least distances on average.

Arsenal who signed Ozil from Real Madrid in the 2013/14 season, definitely found a gem of a player as the former Real Madrid man is also one of the best passers in the Premier League.

Here is the list for the average distance covered by players per 90 mins:

Player	Team	Appearances	Time (mins)	Distance (km)	Average Distance per 90 mins
Mesut Ozil	Arsenal	7	612	69.6	10.24
Samir Nasri	Manchester City	6	236	26.8	10.19
Memphis Depay	Manchester United	8	618	69.8	10.15
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	Arsenal	8	289	32.6	10.13
Raheem Sterling	Manchester City	7	544	60.4	9.99
Ramires	Chelsea	4	168	18.7	9.97
Ross Barkley	Everton	8	786	86.8	9.93
Oscar	Chelsea	4	301	33.2	9.89
Santiago Cazorla	Arsenal	8	750	82.3	9.88
Philippe Coutinho	Liverpool	7	614	67.1	9.83
Willian	Chelsea	7	419	45.7	9.82
Eden Hazard	Chelsea	8	783	84.2	9.67
Emre Can	Liverpool	8	610	65.6	9.66
Yaya Toure	Manchester City	7	628	67.3	9.64
Francis Coquelin	Arsenal	7	538	57.3	9.62
Fernandinho	Manchester City	8	753	80.5	9.61
Theo Walcott	Arsenal	7	465	47.3	9.14
Alexis Sanchez	Arsenal	8	638	63.8	9.01

How does Ozil fare when compared to other Arsenal players

In comparison to other Arsenal players Ozil ranks third. While Aaron Ramsey has outrun most of the players by a fair margin, Mikel Arteta is the person who stands in his way from reaching the second spot. Although Arteta has had very little playing time, he is technically the second most active Arsenal player. Theo Walcott and Sanchez though sit at the bottom of the table which is quite surprising as both the players are seen moving a lot.

Here is the table for the Arsenal players:

Player	Appearances	Time (Mins)	Distance (km)	Ave Distance per 90mins
Aaron Ramsey	8	749	93.5	11.23
Mikel Arteta	4	117	13.9	10.69
Mesut Özil	7	612	69.6	10.24
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	8	289	32.6	10.15
Héctor Bellerín	7	673	74.9	10.02
Santiago Cazorla	8	750	82.3	9.88
Olivier Giroud	8	361	39.4	9.82
Francis Coquelin	7	538	57.5	9.62
Nacho Monreal	8	770	81.3	9.5
Gabriel Paulista	5	426	43.5	9.19
Theo Walcott	7	465	47.3	9.15
Alexis Sánchez	8	638	63.8	9
Laurent Koscielny	6	579	57.7	8.97
Per Mertesacker	4	384	37.1	8.69

Most distance covered by an Arsenal player in a single game

While Aaron Ramsey leads this list as well, Ozil can take solace in the fact that he is one amongst two players in the squad to complete over 11.7km in a single match.

Player	Team	Opposition	Distance Covered (km)
Aaron Ramsey	Arsenal	Manchester United	12.34
Aaron Ramsey	Arsenal	Liverpool	12.13
Aaron Ramsey	Arsenal	West Ham United	12.03
Aaron Ramsey	Arsenal	Chelsea	11.94
Mesut Özil	Arsenal	Leicester City	11.77

Ozil has had several ups and downs in his time at Arsenal and his injury last season saw him miss a major chunk of it, but the German seems to be getting back into his stride after his performance against United before the International break and even impressed with Germany while on national team duty.

Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the Official Player Rating Index of the Barclays Premier League