According to the stats, Newcastle United’s top creators this season have Allan Saint-Maximin and Jonjo Shelvey.
This comes from Twitter page ‘The Other 14‘, who reveal that the Frenchman and English midfielder are in the top 10 (for club’s outside the Premier League’s ‘big six’) when it comes to chances created from open play per 90 minutes played this season.
As shown below, Saint-Maximin is ranked 6th – averaging 1.62 chances created per 90 – while Shelvey comes in 10th, creating 1.54 chances per 90 minutes played:
Saint-Maximin’s ability to beat a man is unquestionable, however these stats show that his final ball and productivity in the final third is better than most give him credit for – with Charlie Nicholas stating just last week that he’ll ‘beat four men then mess us his shot/cross’.
As for Shelvey, this highlights his killer instinct when it comes to cutting passes into the final third, something we saw at Southampton – not that Gayle was able to capitalise on the two or three big chances he created for the striker.
Here’s the table when chances created from set pieces are also included:
