Both teams come into this fixture on the back of impressive victories. Swansea beat Premier League new boys Crystal Palace, and Arsenal secured a victory against Mark Hughes’ Stoke.
Wayne Routledge was in impressive form against his former club, making a total of 33 attacking contributions (based on passes in the opposition half, dribbles, crosses and shots). This was the most of the Swansea team. Routledge is 14/1 to score the first goal on Saturday with 888sport.com.
Jonjo Shelvey was the centre of attention in Swansea’s game against Liverpool, producing a real Jekyll & Hyde performance. However, the former Red quietly went about his business against the Eagles on Sunday, completing a pass in the opposition half every 3.9 minutes.
Shelvey’s passing has been impressive all season, as he has completed an impressive 157 passes in the opposition half this campaign. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that this is 40 more than any of his teammates.
One of the most competitive battles in the Swansea line up is who lines up in the left back slot. Ben Davies is the incumbent, but now Neil Taylor has stepped up his recovery from injury, the Welsh youngster’s position may be under threat. Davies, however, can sleep in comfort knowing that he has completed more tackles than any other Swansea player.
Unsurprisingly, however, the stand-out performer for Swansea this season has been skipper Ashley Williams. Swansea’s centre half has made more defensive contributions, based on clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles, than any other player in the Swansea team. This is also the fourth most in the league.
Arsenal’s away record has been incredibly impressive recently, as they have registered 10 successive away victories.
Despite only featuring in two matches so far in his short Arsenal career to date, the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index shows that Mezut Ozil tops the assists chart in the Premier League. The German has registered 4 assists in just two appearances.
The best performer for Arsenal this season has undoubtedly been Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman maintained his fine form against Stoke, completing 42 passes in Stoke’s half. Ramsey has completed more passes in the opposition half than any other player in the league this year, and you can find the Welshman at an industry best 14/1 to score the last goal of the game with 888sport.com.
Ramsey has been proving his worth defensively too, winning more tackles than any of his teammates.
Another Gunner who impressed defensively was German youngster Serge Gnabry. He may have only played 73 minutes, but no other Arsenal player completed as many interceptions as the youngster.
There haven’t been many negatives for Arsenal so far this season, but one of the few has been the performances of Jack Wilshere, with some critics claiming that his position is under threat. The EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, however, demonstrates that the criticisms may be slightly premature. Other than Ramsey, the ferocious midfielder has made more attacking contributions (150), than the rest of the Arsenal squad.