The main focus from the weekend’s action was that Leicester City maintained their five-point advantage over Tottenham in the title race. The Foxes ensured Crystal Palace’s winless run in 2016 continued but Spurs hit back with a dominant 3-0 win over Bournemouth to keep pace with Claudio Ranieri’s side. Elsewhere, Manchester United triumphed in the Manchester derby to blow the race for fourth place wide open, whereas Rafa Benitez earned his first point as Newcastle manager in the Tyne-Wear derby. But who were the individual stat leaders? WhoScored.com reveals.
It is hard not to start with Francis Coquelin, who completed 12 interceptions against Everton in a midfield performance that led to some calling it his best in an Arsenal shirt to date. Impressively, this was not only a season record, but you’d have to trace back almost three years to find the last player (Matt Lowton vs Liverpool, 12) to complete as many interceptions. Ironically, Aston Villa’s Idrissa Gueye matched Coquelin’s feat 24 hours later in their 1-0 defeat to Swansea.
A once free-flowing Leicester City side are now all about grinding out results as they close in on their first Premier League crown. The Foxes have now kept three consecutive clean sheets for the first time this season and have only scored one goal in each of those matches. Wes Morgan led by example in their latest win, where he racked up 18 clearances against Crystal Palace to ensure they left Selhurst Park with all three points.
Wilfried Bony has been a figure of frustration since making the switch from Swansea and there was no change in his 37-minute outing in the Manchester derby on Sunday. The Ivorian racked up a weekend-high seven shots after coming off the bench to replace Martin Demichelis, but only one of those forced David de Gea into a save.
Elsewhere, Southampton can be thankful for Fraser Forster’s heroics between the sticks in Sunday’s remarkable 3-2 win over Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side should have been out of sight by half-time and were made to regret missed chances when Southampton came from 2-0 behind to win 3-2. However, much of that was down to Forster, who made seven saves – more than any other goalkeeper over the weekend – with four of those coming in the first 45 minutes of action.
For more stats on the Premier League, click here to visit the WhoScored competition page
