The four Premier League duos who ‘created the most chances between players’ in the 2018/19 season
There are few greater sights in modern football than seeing an iconic attacking partnership in full swing, with the duo strutting their stuff in almost telepathic fashion.
Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley once flourished in tandem for Newcastle during the early ’90s, while more recently, Frank Lampard regularly put the ball on a sixpence for Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba.
But this is not something that can be taught; it is an intrinsic understanding between two forces that defies logic. Once brought together, however, it is a manager’s dream, knowing full well that he can take a back seat as his dynamic duo take to the pitch and instinctively thrive.
With that considered, can you recall which manager profited the most from attacking partnerships during the 2018/19 season? Well, at Squawka we’ve explored the numbers, and found the four Premier League duos who ‘created the most chances between players’ last term.
With the new campaign set to get underway, will we see the same old partnerships come out on top or could some fledgling collaborations come to the fore? We’ll find out soon enough. But for now, it’s time to take a look back….
=3. Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth)
Chances created: 31
Bournemouth’s blistering buddies were at it all season, forming one of the top-flight’s most potent partnerships as the Cherries clinically dispatched 13 opponents in a somewhat inconsistent season for the South Coast club.
But there was certainly nothing inconsistent about Wilson and Fraser’s cerebral awareness of one another, as Eddie Howe’s attacking duo created 31 chances between them and directly contributed towards 44 goals.
=3. Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling (Man City)
Chances created: 31
Move aside David Silva, Aguero now has a new wingman in the final third, with Sterling forming one of Europe’s most lethal acquaintanceships alongside his Argentine counterpart.
The City comrades demonstrated that they have a sixth sense of eachother’s whereabouts and were the main catalysts as the North West club regularly ran amok and achieved an unprecedented domestic treble in 2018/19.
2. Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Chances created: 34
Liverpool scored an emphatic 89 league goals across 2018/19, their second-best return since 1964, and part of that was down to the insatiable partnership of Firmino and Salah.
The Brazilian’s selfless false nine role has proven the perfect foil for Liverpool’s wing-wizards to prosper, and that was certainly the case as these two created a comprehensive 34 chances, with Salah clinching yet another Golden Boot as a result.
1. Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Chances created: 37
At times it may have looked as though these two were purposely not passing to eachother as they competed for the highly-coveted Golden Boot. As it turns out, these two formed the league’s best partnership in 2018/19.
Any idea of cynicism has now been well and truly blown out the water as the duo helped set eachother up an incredible 37 times; it was therefore no surprise that both finished the campaign with 22 goals.
They pair will surely need to remain in sync this term if Liverpool are to finally end their long wait for a league title.
Watch the video at the top of the article to see more of our unique 2018/19 Premier League stats – powered by Opta.
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