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The English Premier League has completed it’s eleventh match week and the teams are slowly and steadily getting into their groove. Manchester City are the leaders with Arsenal behind them only on goal difference.
Jamie Vardy and Mesut Ozil lead the goalscoring and assists charts respectively, whereas Arsenal along with Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion have kept the most number of clean sheets.
However, tackling is one area which often goes unnoticed, as the fans around the world are more concerned with the goals and saves. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index monitors players in the Premier League to provide some vital statistics to show some of the best in the league at their respective jobs. The EA Sports PPI has revealed some interesting numbers on who is the best tackler of the EPL thus far.
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Surprisingly, Liverpool’Â?Â?s Lucas Leiva tops the list of most tackles so far in the league. The Brazilian midfielder has had nine appearances this season, in which he has successfully mustered 54 tackles with 83.08% efficiency. He became the first player to complete 50 tackles this term in Liverpool’s victory against Chelsea.
Manchester City’s Fernandinho is second on the list, with 45 successful tackles to his name. Though, his efficiency at 70.31% is not as good when compared to others on the list. Stoke City’s Erik Pieters and Leicester City’s N'Golo Kanté have both won 44 tackles each.
Bournemouth’s Simon Francis, Sunderland’s Billy Jones, Crystal Palace’s Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle United’s Chancel Mbemba, Norwich City’s Robbie Brady and Southampton’s Cédric Soares complete the list of Top-10 tacklers in the league.
Soares is the only player in the list with a better tackles won ratio than Lucas. The Southampton player has won 36 tackles and lost only 1, with a tackles won ratio of 97.30%.
Lucas has the most number of tackles won per 90-minute as well, with 6.4 tackles. Leicester City’s Kanté is second on the tackles per 90-minute list, with 5.7 tackles.
| Team | Player | Appearances | Mins Played | Tackles Won | Tackles Lost | Tackles Won % | Tackles won per 90mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | Lucas Leiva | 9 | 765 | 54 | 11 | 83.08% | 6.4 |
| Manchester City | Fernandinho | 11 | 969 | 45 | 19 | 70.31% | 4.2 |
| Stoke City | Erik Pieters | 11 | 945 | 44 | 18 | 70.97% | 4.2 |
| Leicester City | N'Golo Kanté | 11 | 700 | 44 | 18 | 70.97% | 5.7 |
| Bournemouth | Simon Francis | 11 | 990 | 40 | 14 | 74.07% | 3.6 |
| Sunderland | Billy Jones | 11 | 954 | 40 | 12 | 76.92% | 3.8 |
| Crystal Palace | Yohan Cabaye | 11 | 938 | 39 | 20 | 66.10% | 3.7 |
| Newcastle United | Chancel Mbemba | 11 | 990 | 39 | 10 | 79.59% | 3.5 |
| Norwich City | Robbie Brady | 11 | 990 | 38 | 17 | 69.09% | 3.5 |
| Southampton | Cédric Soares | 10 | 792 | 36 | 1 | 97.30% | 4.1 |
Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the Official Player Rating Index of the Barclays Premier League.
