As the curtain fell on the first half term reports of the 2016/17 season, Hull City, Swansea and Sunderland were in danger of being cast adrift at the bottom of the table. Chelsea’s serene progress towards a fifth Premier League title had only been slightly checked by an in-form Spurs side, while Jose Mourinho was starting to get things right after a slow start at Old Trafford.
We bring you the rundown on a club-by-club basis of who has been bagging the goals and notching up the assists during the first half of the season. Which players are worth following for the rest of the season? Which of the big names have failed to set the league alight this term?
For this second part, we take a look at the Half-fime report about Crystal Palace, Everton, Hull and Leicester.
On Sportito, the Point per games (PPG) is the main metrics to analyze their previous performances, and in our previous article, fantasy football guide, you can read more about how points are calculated, for every position and providing specific tips for this fantasy football game.
Crystal Palace
Star Player: Wilfried Zaha
Unfortunately for Crystal Palace, they are facing at least a month without their most in-form player, after Wilfried Zaha switched his international allegiance from England to represent Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations. His club high Sportito point per games score of 6.51 reflects the improvement he has shown in his third year back at Selhurst Park. He already has four goals from 19 appearances, compared with just two in the whole of last season.
Biggest disappointment: Andros Townsend
Perhaps this is a bit harsh considering his Sportito points per game score of 3.28 is higher than the likes of Yohan Cabaye, but Eagles fans were expecting so much more from the 13-cap England winger. During his ultimately unsuccessful attempt at saving Newcastle United from relegation last season, Townsend recorded four goals at an average of one every 288.5 minutes. However, this season his frequency is up at 1309, the total number of minutes he has played for just a single goal at home to Stoke City.
Everton
Star Player: Romelu Lukaku
For all the frustration over his tendency to score goals in ‘bursts’, there’s no arguing with Romelu Lukaku’s statistics from the first half of this season. The Belgian international notched 11 goals and three assists in 19 matches for a Sportito points per game score of 9.32. His goal frequency of 149 is also considerably better than last season’s 176.11, which suggests he is on the way to beating his record haul of 18 goals from the 2015/16 season.
Biggest disappointment: Gerard Deulofeu
With Lukaku returning to pre-season late after Belgium’s run to the quarter finals of Euro 2016, former Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu was given a chance to lead the line for Everton during the season opener at home to Tottenham. Having enjoyed an eye-catching pre-season, the expectation was that Deulofeu could build on a patchy 2015/16 season, in which he managed two league goals in 1383 minutes at a frequency of 691.5. However, the Spaniard has fallen out of favour after failing to score, or record an assist, in 456 minutes across 11 minutes. The recent arrival of Ademola Lookman makes it even more unlikely that Deulofeu will force his way back into Ronald Koeman’s plans for the second half of the season.
Hull City
Star Player: Robert Snodgrass
Robert Snodgrass was the undoubted star of Hull City’s ill-fated first half of the season, after scoring six goals in 18 matches for a club-high Sportito points per game score of 6.97. The Scottish international is on target to better the six goals he managed in both of his Premier League seasons with Norwich City. His total of 125.4 points is more than 50 points better than the club’s next best performer Michael Dawson (72). New manager Marco Silva will need to fend off interest from West Ham United if his side are to have any chance of staying up.
Biggest disappointment: Abel Hernandez
The Uruguayan striker was one of the stars of Steve Bruce’s promotion winning side last season, scoring 20 goals in 39 Championship appearances. However, over the first half of the season he scored just a single goal in 672 minutes across 10 Premier League matches, for a goal frequency of 672 and a Sportito points per game score of 4.99. Fortunately for Tigers fans, Hernandez has since served up a reminder of his talents, by scoring twice in Hull’s much-needed 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.
Leicester City
Star Player: Wes Morgan
For last season’s Premier League champions, the sight of Wes Morgan at the top of the points chart is a good indication of how far the Foxes have fallen in the first half of 2016/17. The Jamaican international didn’t miss a minute across 20 matches, but showed nothing like the form which helped his side rack up 15 clean sheets last term. Morgan has at least scored a goal, and collected just two yellow cards, for a Sportito points per game score of 4.35.
Biggest disappointment: Riyad Mahrez
Again, this might be considered a little harsh given that Riyad Mahrez is fifth in the Sportito points table for Leicester, behind only Morgan, Islam Slimani, Jamie Vardy and Christian Fuchs. However, the Algerian international, who is currently on duty at the African Cup of Nations, has simply failed to scale the same heights as last season. At the half way point last season, he already had 13 league goals, compared to the three he has managed in 20 matches this season at a frequency of 504. You could also argue that his Sportito points per game score of 4.14 is undeservedly high, given that all three of his goals came from the penalty spot.
