Best Under 20 Premier League Attacking Players
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A few days ago I sent out an email to my Top 100 readers, as chosen by a five-star-system my newsletter provider uses. Basically it measures opens, clicks, and all that other cool stuff.
I’ll be sending special content to whoever my Top 100 is - things like mail days and what I’m buying.
Anyway, I asked the 100 on what they’d like to see and I was overwhelmed with responses. I’d say about 50 of the top 100 reached out in the 24 hours after I sent the email.
One of the readers requested a look into the top under 20 Premier League players.
So, as they say….
What I Looked At
To look at the best attacking youngsters in the Premier League, I decided to lean on an old faithful, comparing expected goals and expected assists per 90.
Now, these numbers are the my first, my last, my everything. In fact there’s a few things they don’t consider.
For example, someone in a team that creates a lot of chances will probably have better numbers here - and it’ll also rely on a players’ role and all those other caveats that counting stats bring with them.
But still, they’re pretty bloody decent for our purposes.
So, here’s the rules I put on the search for this article
Players under 20
Players that have played Premier League over the past 12 months
And with that, we’ve looked at all data in the past calendar year.
Results
So, with those search parameters, here are the results.
The expected assists per 90 are the vertical axis, and the expected goals are the horizontal axis.
Now, this graph is just on a per90 basis, and I haven’t given a minute restriction here.
I also haven’t excluded Goalkeepers and Defensive players - hence the crowd of players at the bottom left.
Having said that though, here are the key takeaways from the search.
Fabio Silva: The Wolves man hasn’t set the world on fire with his output, but the 0.5 expected goals per 90 means that he’s getting into some good positions. At over 800 minutes the sample size isn’t massive but there’s enough there to show some potential. Find his cards on eBay.
Phil Foden: What a goddam machine! Top for expected assists per 90 and second in expected goals per 90. As a Manchester City fan, I can’t wait to see him carry on improving. He is averaging 0.6 expected goals plus assists per 90 minutes in what’s probably the hardest league in the word. He’s 20. Find his cards on eBay.
Pedro Neto: Another Wolves guy, Neto oozes class when he’s on song. Hopefully for Wolves fans (and Portugal), that becomes more common. Find his cards on eBay.
Mason Greenwood: Ouch… And the worst part is that this number is getting propped up a little with the tail end of last season. This season has been a rough one. If you’re high on Greenwood, I wouldn’t completely write him off yet - he’s still so young. Find his cards on eBay.
Emile Smith Rowe: One of the shining lights on a poor Arsenal season, Smith Rowe has been a lovely addition to the Arsenal side this season and has looked comfortable as a playmaker - Granted, they then basically benched him for an on-loan Odegaard… Seems dumb to sacrifice growing your own players just so you can develop someone else’s… But what do I know… Find his cards on eBay.
Bukayo Saka: Speaking of shining lights in a dull Arsenal side - Saka has been brilliant this season. He’s already a good Premier League player and he’s only 19. A lot of these guys are “good for their age”, but Sake is just plain good. Find his cards on eBay.
Rhian Brewster: One of the junior England gems that was a lot of hype when at Liverpool - has since moved to a rubbish Sheffield United side and will more than likely get relegated. Could do with a year in the Championship to start scoring goals. Find his cards on eBay.
Callum Hudson-Odoi: CHO was dragged off after about 30-minutes on the field over the weekend. I don’t care about that and neither should you. I actually think it’s a positive thing going forward. Tuchel doesn’t mess about and expects his players to do their part on both sides of the ball. Hudson-Odoi was a bit of an odd man out under Lampard - and the fact they have about 32 players who are attacking mids/second strikers/attack-minded mids/blokes who can play wide doesn’t help. But I think he can cement his spot playing as a wing-back once he learns the position a little more. Find his cards on eBay.
Final Thoughts
My god there’s some great young talent in the league right now. Foden and Saka are my top two at this stage, but there’s still so many other great players. I didn’t even really mention players like Ferran Torres and Tariq Lamptey who have been great at times this season too.
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