adminArsenal’s Mesut Ozil was pulling the strings once again at the Emirates Stadium as his wonderful defence-splitting through ball set up Joel Campbell for the opening goal in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
This marked the 27 year old’s twelfth Premier League assist in what has been an outstanding individual campaign so far.
His contribution becomes even more impressive when compared with that of his European counterparts.
In fact, no other player in Europe’s top five leagues has managed more than Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Raffael’s total of eight assists this term, still four shy of Ozil.
The German playmaker’s assist total is twice that of his nearest Premier League rivals, Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez, Everton’s Gerard Deulofeu and Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva of Manchester City, all of whom have six to their name.
Even in La Liga, the home of Europe’s attacking elite, no player has setup more than five goals – Barcelona’s Neymar and Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale unsurprisingly leading the charts.
It’s a similar story in the French Ligue 1, where former Manchester United winger Angel Di Maria and Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic are joined by Bordeaux midfielder Wahbi Khazri as France’s leading creative forces (six assists).
In the Italian Serie A five players, AC Milan’s Giacomo Bonaventura, Empoli’s Riccardo Saponara, Chievo’s Riccardo Meggiorini, Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne and Roma’s Miralem Pjanic, share the spotlight with five assists a piece.
Ozil’s closest creative competition comes from his native Germany where Raffael’s total is closely followed by the seven contributed by Bayern Munich’s mercurial Douglas Costa and Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Arsenal man’s performances may divide opinion but what cannot be debated is his unique ability to play the final ball in the build up towards a goal
With numbers like these Ozil has firmly established himself as one of world football’s most effective technicians and a vital component of any potential Arsenal title challenge. – BBC
Online Reporter