Despite his injury absence at the start of the season, Hakim Ziyech has been among the most creative player in the Premier League this seasons, statistics show.
The 27-year-old’s three assists from just two starts (and two appearances off the bench) in the Premier League this season has put him in joint-fourth place in the league’s assist chart.
Bear in mind, Ziyech missed the first four league games of the season due to a knee injury.
Obviously, there are nine other players who have had three or more league assists this season. But if you looked at Ziyech’s statistics using the per 90 minutes metric, you’d see why he is arguably the most creative player in the league.
According to the Opta data from the Premier League official website, Ziyech has created almost two big chances per 90 minutes, more than any other player in the league.
He also ranks second in terms of chance created, setting up almost four chances per 90 minutes.
The Morocco international successfully found a teammate inside the penalty box with his passes almost 12 times per 90 minutes, the third most in the league.
He also made six key passes in Chelsea’s 4-1 win over Sheffield United last week — a record for the 2020/21 season.
Rio Ferdinand previously said that Frank Lampard described the former Ajax ace as “the guy who can unlock things” and he has been proven right so far.
For the next couple of weeks, though, Chelsea’s new creative outlet will probably be busy making those killer passes in Morocco’s African Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic on Friday (13 Nov – home) and Tuesday (17 Nov – away), respectively.