Clarets’ creators on a par with some of Europe’s best

Burnley duo Ashley Westwood and Dwight McNeil are among some of the best in Europe when it comes to creating chances.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the players who created the most big chances for their teammates in big-5 league matches.

Burnley's English midfielder Ashley Westwood (L) celebrates with Burnley's English midfielder Dwight McNeil (R) after scoring the opening goal from a corner kick during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Burnley at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 10, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

placeholder image — Burnley's English midfielder Ashley Westwood (L) celebrates with Burnley's English midfielder Dwight McNeil (R) after scoring the opening goal from a corner kick during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Burnley at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on March 10, 2019. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Lionel Messi of Barcelona is clearly at the head of the tables for the last five and three years, while Paris St-Germain’s Ángel Di María tops the last-year rankings.

However, Burnley’s creative pair Westwood and McNeil compare favourably with a number of top European stars, in terms of their figures for the last year – 11 big chances created.

That puts them on a par with Mario Götze (Borussia Dortmund), David Silva (Manchester City), Luis Suárez (FC Barcelona), Marco Verratti (Paris St-Germain), Heung-Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur), Koke (Atlético Madrid), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (FC Barcelona), James Maddison and Jamie Vardy (both Leicester City).

According to the data from OptaPro, over the five past years, Lionel Messi created a big chance every 90 minutes.

The frequency of big chances created by the Argentinean went up during the last year (87 minutes).

In the second and third positions for the different periods analysed are, Di María and Kevin de Bruyne for the last five years, Thomas Müller and de Bruyne for the past three, as well as Müller and Messi for the last year.

During last year, besides Messi, three other players have created at least one big chance every 90 minutes – Müller (every 72 minutes), Di María (82 minutes) and de Bruyne (every 87 minutes).

The 11 big chances created by Westwood have come with one every 278 minutes, and McNeil’s with one every 288.

The p;air are currently level in terms of Premier League assists, with five each for the season.

Indeed, McNeil, with his throughball for Matej Vydra’s opener against Bournemouth last week, became the youngest player to 10 Premier League assists since Raheem Sterling in in November 2014.

The pair have created more big chances over the year than much-vaunted talents such as: 10 – Kingsley Coman (Bayern München), Joaquín Correa (SS Lazio), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Santi Cazorla (Villarreal), Jorginho (Chelsea), Sadio Mané (Liverpool), Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio) and Youri Tielemans (Leicester City); 9 – Jony Rodríguez (SS Lazio), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern München), James Rodríguez (Real Madrid), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle United), Marco Reus), Adama Traoré (Wolverhampton), Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) and Willian (Chelsea).

More statistics are available at www. football-observatory.com in issue number 285 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.