Football: Who Will be King of Assists This Season?

This Premier League season probably features the most lethal collection of passers we have ever seen in the history of the division. Each of the top six clubs has at least two players who could top the charts for the most assists at the end of the season but who will be crowned the assist king at the end of the 2017-18 campaign?

Kevin De Bruyne

We’re going to start with De Bruyne who I firmly believe will grab the most assists next season.

The Belgian dynamo has an incredible habit of picking out a pass from any area of the pitch and landing the striker in on goal. The problem defenders have is that unlike a Mesut Ozil or Philippe Coutinho, KDB is just as strong on his weak foot as he is with his strong foot.

You’ll often find the Manchester City man cornered with two defenders around him and just the tightest of spaces to play the ball through but he manages to slide it through.

He finished last season with 18 assists and top of the pile and I’m expecting more of the same this season, even though he’s going to face stiff competition.

Paul Pogba 

Pogba could have easily had 18 assists himself last season but Zlatan Ibrahimovic just didn’t fancy converting passes played by the Frenchman.

It is well known that the France midfielder enjoys playing in a more offensive position and with Manchester United’s recent acquisition of Nemanja Matic, it should allow the dab-king to push further forward. With that and his close friendship with Romelu Lukaku in mind, I’m pretty sure Pogba is going to be grabbing more assists this season.

Although he only managed to get four last season, I think we’re going to see the best of the ex-Juventus man and he’ll come second in the assist charts.

Bernardo Silva

This list could have been filled with five Manchester City midfielders, that’s how many world-class midfielders it has but I had to go with the new boy in Silva.

His playing style reminds me of David Silva in his early days in the Premier League when he was unplayable and I’m expecting a similar start to life in England for Bernardo.

He gained nine open-play assists for Monaco last season and expect him to play a role close to the striker, as an actual number 10 with KDB and Leroy Sane offering wider support.

I expect everything to run through the Portugal international and for that reason he makes the list ahead of teammates David and Sane.

Christian Eriksen

It is impossible to talk about assists and ignore Tottenham’s set-piece specialist Eriksen. His 134 games in the Premier League have produced 38 assists and he also leads the chart for the most accurate long balls in that time (301).

He has the league’s most lethal striker, Harry Kane, playing for his team Kane which means the there will be a result on 90% of the occasions he puts the England striker in on goal.

It would be the biggest shock of the season if Eriksen didn’t register more than 10 assists at the very least and that would get him fourth spot in the assists table.

Roberto Firmino

Firmino is the one most wouldn’t have predicted and many would not have even considered when it comes to “most assists” but the new Liverpool number nine will have two of the paciest wingers in the league either side of him.

There is no way Jurgen Klopp will be looking to utilise the Brazilian as a proper striker.

I’m assuming he will be the man who drops off and allows Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah to cause the problems, so he could sneak into the top five assisters in the league, as he’ll be playing a lot of the final balls for the other two to finish.

 

by Nubaid Haroon

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