Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final between Merseyside rivals Liverpool and Everton will contain a fascinating battle between two multi-talented midfields and the outcome is likely to rest on how well those players perform.
Castrol EDGE Performance data shows that Steven Gerrard has managed to find the net five times in his seventeen league appearances this season, resulting in an impressive chance conversion of 24% and a shooting accuracy of 57%.
His young teammate Jordan Henderson pales in comparison, having only netted once this season despite spending twice as much time on the pitch (2,258 minutes to Gerrard’s 1,127). However, Henderson does match Gerrard for pass completion (83%).
The man tasked with containing the Liverpool captain is Everton’s combative midfielder Marouane Fellaini. Despite committing 69 fouls and collecting 6 yellow cards this season, he is yet to receive a red card and has won an impressive 84% of his tackles.
Steven Pienaar has more goal assists to his name (4) than either of the Liverpool men (1), showing the playmaking prowess that made him such a hit at Goodison Park before his ill-feted move to Tottenham in January 2011. His creativity is confirmed by the fact that he makes a chance every 42.6 minutes, which is more frequent than Steven Gerrard (43.3 minutes).
| Prem Lge 11/12 |
Jordan Henderson |
Steven Gerrard |
Marouane Fellaini |
Steven Pienaar |
| Team |
Liverpool |
Liverpool |
Everton |
Everton / Tottenham |
| Appearances |
32 |
17 |
29 |
11 |
| Minutes On Pitch |
2,258 |
1,127 |
2,420 |
809 |
| Goal Attempts |
|
|||
| Goals |
1 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
| Mins per goal |
2258 |
225 |
2420 |
405 |
| Mins per Shot |
86.8 |
53.7 |
80.7 |
80.9 |
| Shooting Accuracy |
46% |
52% |
47% |
30% |
| Chance Conversion |
4% |
24% |
3% |
20% |
| Passing | ||||
| Goal Assists |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
| Mins per Chance Created |
94.1 |
43.3 |
134.4 |
42.6 |
| Mins per Pass |
1.8 |
1.4 |
1.6 |
1.7 |
| Pass Completion % |
83% |
83% |
79% |
82% |
| Defending | ||||
| Mins per Tackle |
56.5 |
49.0 |
26.6 |
42.6 |
| Tackles Won % |
85% |
70% |
84% |
63% |
| Mins per Interception |
49.1 |
75.1 |
45.7 |
42.6 |
| Discipline | ||||
| Fouls |
21 |
8 |
69 |
15 |
| Offside |
6 |
4 |
14 |
0 |
| Yellow Cards |
2 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
| Red Cards |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
STEVEN GERRARD: MAKING THE MOST OF LIMITED TIME
Liverpool and Everton meet in the FA Cup on Saturday with Steven Gerrard’s spectacular hat-trick against the Toffees in March still fresh in the memory. Injuries have restricted Gerrard’s opportunities this season but Castrol EDGE Performance data shows how valuable he remains to a Liverpool side that have lacked penetration this season.
The extent to which Liverpool relies on Gerrard can be seen by the fact that he averages a touch every 1.03 minutes and a pass every 1.41 minutes in the Premiership this season. These are more frequent than any other Liverpool player and they place him in the same bracket as David Silva and Luka Modric, two of the Premiership’s most celebrated playmakers this season.
Minutes per touch in the 2011/12 Premier League
| Angel Rangel |
Swansea City |
0.88 |
| Mikel Arteta |
Arsenal |
0.94 |
| Yaya Touré |
Manchester City |
0.95 |
| Michael Carrick |
Manchester United |
0.97 |
| Samir Nasri |
Manchester City |
1.02 |
| Aaron Ramsey |
Arsenal |
1.02 |
| Luka Modric |
Tottenham Hotspur |
1.03 |
| Steven Gerrard |
Liverpool |
1.03 |
| Bacary Sagna |
Arsenal |
1.03 |
| Benoit Assou-Ekotto |
Tottenham Hotspur |
1.04 |
Minutes per pass received in the 2011/12 Premier League
| Yaya Touré |
Manchester City |
1.18 |
| Mikel Arteta |
Arsenal |
1.26 |
| Samir Nasri |
Manchester City |
1.29 |
| Aaron Ramsey |
Arsenal |
1.31 |
| David Silva |
Manchester City |
1.35 |
| Michael Carrick |
Manchester United |
1.36 |
| Luka Modric |
Tottenham Hotspur |
1.40 |
| Tomas Rosicky |
Arsenal |
1.41 |
| Steven Gerrard |
Liverpool |
1.41 |
| Angel Rangel |
Swansea City |
1.42 |
Minutes per cross in the 2011/12 Premier League
| Jermaine Pennant |
Stoke City |
7.3 |
| Martin Petrov |
Bolton Wanderers |
8.5 |
| Marc Albrighton |
Aston Villa |
9.1 |
| Nani |
Manchester United |
9.7 |
| Matthew Etherington |
Stoke City |
10.0 |
| Sebastian Larsson |
Sunderland |
10.4 |
| Ashley Young |
Manchester United |
10.5 |
| Matthew Jarvis |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
10.7 |
| Steven Gerrard |
Liverpool |
10.7 |
| Juan Mata |
Chelsea |
10.8 |
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