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Next, Wesley Fofana. He has also looked good, though not quite as good as at Leicester. And playing wide in a back three tends to boost metrics (more attacking opportunities, fewer backstop defending plays):
A big reason behind the drop in João Félix's attacking output this season has been lower shot quality. But his shots were never so great for a striker – we'd want to see something more like 0.15 to 0.20 xG per shot:
The main caution with Enzo Fernández is that his skill ratings are pretty average for the Premier League so far. But he's an aggressive player on both sides of the ball. He's a very attacking DM, involved in the majority of Benfica's goals when on the pitch:
Casemiro covers a lot of ground but stayed quite central for Real Madrid last season. He doesn't come out to cover on the flanks very often, and he rarely gets in to the box. That doesn't stop him from taking pot shots, though....
As you can see above, Rashica has played mainly as a striker for Werder Bremen, with great skill in 1v1s but declining attacking output. His style hasn't changed much, but his passing has gotten less aggressive and his dribbling has declined a little bit:
Gravenberch operated mostly on the left for Ajax, and we'll expect to see him working there in a two again today. He's got a wide range of passes but is a storming dribbler up the left channel. He takes corners from both sides, too. Multitalented, you might say...
Kelman's involvement in Southend's most dangerous moves was rather low for a central striker, though he did take decent chances on average. He was active in both channels, a bit more on the left, usually linking up the play but also dribbling on the corner of the box.
Brewster was involved in a surprisingly high share of Swansea's goals while on the pitch despite being part of less than 40% of its shots. One reason was his finishing, which was well above par and partly made up for his low underlying output in attack.
But what's really exciting about Dias is his attacking. He was involved in 45% of Benfica's goals last season, which is huge for a RCB. He generated even more ball progression expected goals from receiving as from passing, too, taking high-quality shots (and finishing them):
Kerk is a rare winger (at least for the Premier League) in that he likes to dribble the ball forward from deep. He can hug the touchline or come inside and has an unpredictable mix of actions near the corner. His style at RW bears similarities to Sarr, Zaha, and Sterling.
EFL Championship:
Zardes's shot quality is the same, on average, as last season, but his conversion rate is through the roof. We think some of it is sustainable, though probably not all, since these numbers are just wacky (in a Zardes kind of way):
To explain why Semedo's attacking output isn't higher, we can look at his smartermap. He didn't get many touches close to the box at Barça, and his passing was fairly timid in the attacking half. It's been tough to fill those size 43 Dani Alves boots.
Reguilón was involved in almost half of Sevilla's most productive moves last season, which is quite good for a LB, and another improvement from the previous season:
Traoré's role changed a lot between 2018-19 and 2019-20. Have a look at his smartermaps for those two seasons at RW. He shifted from short passes further back on the pitch to longer passes, more dribbles in and near the area, and more shots in the box, raising his output:
Acuña is an excellent crosser who can make long passes from anywhere along the flank. He can also take corners and free kicks from both sides, as his smartermap shows:
As his smartermap shows, Muriqi gets a ton of shots in the box. But he also looks for short passes on either side of the penalty spot, so he can create as well as score, especially working with a partner.