Newcastle United take on Swansea City in the Premier League at St James’ Park today, where former Magpie Wayne Routledge will be looking to make his mark. Here are the stats…
– Newcastle were unable to beat manager Alan Pardew’s former club, West Ham, at home on Sunday. The Magpies are 10th and face Swansea, who are a position and a point behind them in the Premier League.
– Demba Ba was a revelation on Tyneside last season and is leading the Newcastle side again with 7 league goals so far this term. He is the third top goal scorer in the league behind van Persie and Suarez, who both have 8 goals to their names.
– Hatem Ben Arfa was nominated for FIFA’s Puskas Award for goal of the year this week, and he continues to be one of Newcastle’s best attacking threats this season. He has dribbled the ball more often than any other player (22 times) in the league apart from Luis Suarez (23 times).
– Ben Arfa ran with the ball 6 times against West Ham, only one player has completed more dribbles in a single game this season and that’s Suarez with 7 against Norwich. He has also contributed two assists and scored twice himself.
– For the 7th time this season, Yohan Cabaye topped the distance run charts for Newcastle with 6.55 miles against West Ham. He also won ten tackles in the game against West Ham, the most by a single player in a game all season, while Shane Ferguson won 8, the joint third highest of the season
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– Swansea will be without Korean midfielder Ki Sung-Yeung who is ruled out with a hamstring injury. The Swans were grateful for Southampton defender Maya Yoshida’s mistake, which allowed substitute Nathan Dyer to grab his side a point on the south coast in their last game.
– Dyer has three goals so far this season from 13 efforts at goal with an impressive 77% on target, and has also contributed 2 assists.
– Wayne Routledge comes up against a former club in Newcastle united. The midfielder will be looking to build on the 2 goals and 4 assists he has already this season. Routledge has looked impressive for Swansea this season, completing 186 passes in his opponent’s half so far.
– Summer signing Miguel Michu has converted 6 of his 12 shots on target in the Premier League this season. The attacking midfielder will no doubt be looking to contribute more assists though, after providing just one opportunity for a teammate.
– Chico Flores has returned to training following a thigh injury and could be in line to face Newcastle. The £2m summer signing has established himself as a first-choice centre-back for Swansea winning 17 of 24 attempted tackles and made 41 interceptions in 7 appearances.
– Ashley Williams leads his side in terms of interceptions however. The Welshman has completed 74 interceptions, the 6th most in the league according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
– Pablo Hernandez covered more ground than any other Swansea player with 6.66 miles vs. Southampton last week. However it is Angel Rangel who is the Swans’ workhorse. He has covered 69.65 miles overall this season to top the cumulative distance charts.
Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the official player rating index of the Barclays Premier League.
