David Silva has been a solid, but rarely spectacular Fantasy option over the last three years, racking up impressive assist numbers but rarely scoring enough goals and staying fit long enough to be an elite Fantasy option. But this season, Silva has found his goalscoring touch with nine league goals, tied for second among midfielders. I thought I’d take a look at Silva’s shots and chances created stats over the last three seasons and see if the stats back up what we’ve been seeing this year.
Key Stats 2012-2015
2012/13: 2516 minutes, 53 shots (1.90 p90), 37 shots in the box (1.32 p90), 103 chances created (3.68 p90) Shot accuracy: 56%.
2013/14: 2162 minutes, 53 shots (2.21 p90), 40 in the box (1.67 p90), 84 chances created (3.50 p90) Shot accuracy: 45%
2014/15: 1621 minutes, 33 shots (1.83 p90), 22 in the box (1.22 p90), 48 chances created (2.67 p90) Shot accuracy: 61%
Conclusions
Silva’s per-90-minute shot stats are pretty similar (if anything slightly worse) this season compared with 2012/13 and 2013/14. More worryingly, he’s averaging nearly a full chance created fewer per 90 minutes compared to the previous two seasons, which could explain why his assists are down so far this year. Looking at the stats, it seems to me like Silva’s goalscoring exploits are a bit of a fluke, brought on by a higher shot accuracy and conversion rate that could regress over the final 12 weeks of the season.
Granted, 1,600 minutes isn’t a huge sample size, but I don’t see why he should continue to outperform his traditional output. This is not to say he’s a bad option. He’s a nailed on attacker for one of the best attacking sides in the Premier League. His production has been excellent at times over the last three seasons. There’s a lot to like. However, I don’t think Silva is a better prospect right now than he’s been at any other time over his Premier League career.
9 years, 1 month ago
This gives this non Silva owner some hope. Hope you are right.