In this season’s Premier League, with 25 games played, most teams are within a few
wins or losses of where they were at this stage last
season.
Indeed, of the 17 teams in last year’s competition still present this term, only
four are more than eight points better or worse off.
The two biggest movers are Chelsea, 30 points better off after 25 games, and Leicester City,
32 points worse off.
It’s a massive gulf, with the team who finished 10 th last term likely to win
the title, and the team who were crowned champions in relegation form.
While Antonio Conte has given Chelsea focus and adapted their system to maximise the
ability of players like Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, the obvious shift in power from the
Foxes to the Blues is the tireless, talented N’Golo Kante.
Kante made Leicester tick.
Last season, Leicester made the most interceptions (819 or 21.6
per game) and won the second most tackles (658 or 17.3 per game) of any Premier League
side.
They also only gave up 142 shots on target, the 6 th lowest total.
Kante’s personal contribution was nothing short of heroic:
he made more interceptions (156) and won more tackles (125) than any other player in the
league in his first season in English football.
He made just under 20% of all Leicester’s interceptions
and 19% of their tackles.
Kante kept opponents are bay, prevented them getting
close enough to shoot, turned the ball over time
and again, and released the counter-attacking talents that won Leicester the most surprising
top flight title in English football history.
Kante is still a wonderful player this season, but his focus has shifted in a team that relies
less on counter-attacking and where he plays alongside a less mobile deep-lying playmaker;
Kante is still putting in a huge defensive shift, but has also taken on a more dynamic
role.
[2015/16: 4.7 interceptions per game, 3.4 tackles won per game, 1183 successful passes
– 32 per game in 33 starts, 4 sub appearances​
2016/17: 2.3 interceptions per game, 2.3 tackles won per game, 1293 successful passes – 54
per game in 24 starts] Indeed, Kante is the 6 th most successful
passer in the league by volume and is passing at
87.8% accuracy, with Chelsea’s team accuracy 83.4%.
His effect on Chelsea has been marked too: in 2015/16 they were 18 th for interceptions
(518) and 7 th worst for shots on target faced (176); this season, they are 9 th for interceptions
(368) and have allowed the fewest shots on target in the league (68).
Kante’s more advanced position and Chelsea’s more aggressive
style of play keeps attackers away from Courtois’ goal; he has tightened up their defensive
stance enormously.
Leicester, meanwhile, have dropped off a cliff defensively.
[2015/16 819 interceptions (1 st ), 658 tackles won (2 nd ), shots on target faced 142 (6
th best) 2016/17 345 interceptions (13 th ), 300 tackles
won (14 th ), 120 shots on target faced (13 th )]
The loss of Kante’s energetic screening has not only left the aging, slow centre backs
Huth and Morgan exposed, but robbed the Foxes of
the instigator of their counter-attacking style.
There’s a combined 62 points gap between Kante’s team last season and Kante’s team
this season.
And while Kante’s role has changed at Chelsea, he’s quickly become the league’s
most important defensive midfielder.
If there's a particular team or player you'd like to see us
feature in a future episode of By The Numbers,
please leave a comment and let us know.