An interesting statistic was shown on Sky Sports last night which was used to display Manchester United ace Juan Mata’s effectiveness in big games.
The Spaniard, who’s criminally underrated to be fair, registers a goal or an assist every 148.6 minutes against other top sides in the Premier League – which include ourselves, United, Arsenal, Chelsea, City and Spurs.
SEE MORE:
Liverpool considering £15m Croatian to fill Sadio Mane’s AFCON void
But straight after Mata is Coutinho, who scores or assists every 172 minutes against these sides – mighty impressive considering the fact he was very young when he first moved to England and wasn’t racking up the kind of numbers he is now.
Coutinho’s end product in big matches>>> Ozil, Silva, Hazard… ⭐️
(And this is why Eriksen isn’t elite yet, too) pic.twitter.com/YWkaMlm6lw
— Jordan A Chamberlain (@Jordan_AC90) November 22, 2016
Compare Coutinho’s end product when it matters to Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, for example. A big, big difference.
Of course, to win titles you need players who put lesser teams to bed on a weekly basis – so this statistic isn’t the be and end all – but it does suggest we can trust our Brazilian when it comes to the crucial fixtures in 2016/17, especially considering his rapid rate of improvement this campaign.