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Daily Record
Sport
Steven Mair

Celtic dominate Premiership best players study as Rangers Euro stars left in the shade

The boffins at Swiss research centre CIES Football Observatory have sorted the entire Scottish Premiership player database into 15 'technical profiles'.

And their findings detail just why Celtic are heading into the split in control of the title race.

Looking at 32 leagues in total, players have been "classified into 15 technical profiles and ranked according to their performance level with respect to both teammates and opponents, their playing time, as well as their team and league sporting strength".

For example, Real Madrid star Eder Militao's defensive abilities on the ground and in the air make him the world's best 'ground-to-air blocker'.

But Virgil van Dijk surpasses him as an 'air blocker filter man' because of his ability on the recovery and the fact he is rarely dribbled past.

(SNS Group)

The best 'shooter creator' is Real Madrid's Karim Benzema due to his superb finishing and ability to create chances for others, while Robert Lewandowski gets the nod for best 'target man shooter' who has excellent shooting and aerial attacking qualities.

It sounds convoluted but actually is a handy way to break down the Scottish Premiership's best players this season using the hard data and across the 15 profiles, Celtic come out on top for seven of them.

Dylan Levitt of Dundee United (SNS Group)

In defence, Carl Starfelt is the league's best 'ground-to-air blocker' but Rangers man Calvin Bassey gets the nod for 'air blocker playmaker'.

Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier are the only other Ibrox men worthy of the list as he with the 'target man shooter' and 'playmaker infiltrator' labels.

Dundee United get some surprise inclusions with Ryan Edwards and Dylan Levitt named the best players that fit the 'air blocker filter man' and 'playmaker creator' archetypes.

Hearts' Cammy Devlin is the best 'ground blocker filter man' while Josh Doig at Hibs gets 'defensive infiltrator'.

Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor, David Turnbull, Jota, Kyogo and Liel Abada all pad out the Scottish list for Celtic to back up stellar seasons their players are having individually, despite falling short in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final.

And finally there's a mention for Jordan White of Ross County, whose dirty work often facilitates their star men Regan Charles-Cook and Joseph Hungbo.

He's the Premiership's best 'allrounder target man'.

CIES 'technical profiles' for the Premiership

Profile Player Team

Ground-to-air blocker

Carl Starfelt Celtic

Air blocker filter man

Ryan Edwards Dundee United

Air blocker playmaker

Calvin Bassey Rangers

Ground blocker filter man

Cammy Devlin Hearts

Ground blocker playmaker

Greg Taylor

Celtic

Filter man playmaker

Callum McGregor

Celtic

Defensive infiltrator

Josh Doig Hibernian

Defensive shooter

David Turnbull

Celtic

Playmaker creator

Dylan Levitt

Dundee United

Infiltrator creator

Jota

Celtic

Playmaker infiltrator

James Tavernier

Rangers

Shooter creator

Kyogo Furhuhashi

Celtic

Shooter infiltrator

Liel Abada

Celtic

Allrounder target man

Jordan White Ross County

Target man shooter

Alfredo Morelos

Rangers

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