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Football London
Football London
Sport
Jonty Colman

The Premier League table led by a West Ham defender that highlights attacking issues

West Ham EPL Aaron Cresswell Jarrod Bowen West Ham United Hammers David Moyes Declan Rice Tomas Soucek Arsenal

West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell ranks among the most creative players in this season’s 2022/23 Premier League.

The left-back has made 14 appearances in the Hammers’ 15 league games this season, contributing 30 key passes in those games to put him joint-sixth in most chances created in the Premier League this term.

However, while Cresswell has created the chances that ranks him as the second most creative defender this season, he is yet to register a single assist in the Premier League.

READ MORE: Mark Noble makes Jack Grealish point over Declan Rice’s future amid Chelsea transfer links

According to date from FBref, of players yet to record an official assist this term, Cresswell has an expected assists (xA) value of 2.5, meaning he should have provided between two and three assists already this season.

He also ranks top in the whole league of having the biggest -xA compared to his actual number of assists with -2.5. Second on the list is Manchester United playmaker Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese has recorded one assist, but has an xA value of 3.3, making his rating -2.3 compared to his actual number of assists.

Converting chances has been an issue for West Ham on the whole this season, scoring only 12 league goals despite an expected goals (xG) total of 18.6, making them one of the most wasteful sides in the division. Declan Rice and Lucas Paqueta rank joint-top for league assists for West Ham with two each.

However, after Cresswell, Bowen has the highest xA value in the West Ham squad despite failing to record an assist. His xA value of 1.9 makes him the fourth most creative player this season not to record an assist.

Clearly, creating chances has not really been the issue, it is more about converting those chances. Bowen and midfielder Tomas Soucek are among the West Ham players who have severely performed this season in front of goal compared to their xG values.

Highest expected assists (xA) according to FBref of players yet to register a 2022/23 Premier League assist :

  1. Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United) 2.5

  2. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) 2.2

  3. Demarai Gray (Everton) 2.1

  4. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) 1.9

  5. Daniel Podence (Wolverhampton Wanderers) 1.6

  6. Joao Moutinho (Wolverhampton Wanderers) 1.5

  7. Stuart Armstrong (Southampton) 1.5

  8. Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa) 1.4

  9. Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham) 1.3

  10. Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest) 1.2

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