Beyond Stats is back with more of LALIGA’s most impressive metrics

We are going to identify three metrics with a big influence on intensity and creating danger and see which players led these rankings last season:

Fran Garcia, Dani Parejo and Fran Beltran were the players who covered the greatest total distance, but what about when we focus on high intensity running? Using Mediacoach, the analysis tool used by all LALIGA clubs, and at Beyond Stats, we differentiate between three speeds: 21, 24 and 28 kilometres per hour. Today our attention turns to the top speed.

Will the most intense players continue in the fast lane?

We can gauge the intensity of play through the average speeds that players run at, either over a certain distance or in terms of the total number of metres covered. We are going to focus on the total distance run last season at over 28 km/h. As we can see, it is no coincidence that the ranking is topped by players who have an impact, break through the lines, create danger and help their teams to create chances. Last season, Vinicius, Fran Garcia, Iñaki Williams, Alvaro Garcia and Thierry Correia were the players who ran the furthest at high intensity. The top man, Vinicius, covered over 5 kilometres in total, while at number five, Correia ran more than three and a half.

Having analysed the speeds, let’s look at the players who do it with the ball in tow, dribbling as they go. And let’s focus on those that have the greatest impact on goals scored:

High-impact carries

These are carries which end up leading to a shot, and therefore those which are most directly
linked to goalscoring chances. This is a way of measuring a player's ability to beat defenders,
break through the lines and their capacity to create a threat. If we look at the players from last
year who are still playing in LaLiga as things stand, Vinicius once again takes the top spot,
followed by Samuel Lino, Kubo, Carrasco and Abde. 

And let’s not forget the most important thing, the goals.

Many of the metrics we will analyse have a direct effect on goals scored and help us to understand how they come about and how they are produced. In this final section, we take a look at the top scorers from last season. FC Barcelona, in Robert Lewandowski, had a prolific scorer with 23 goals to his name. With Joselu, Real Madrid will be seeking to replace the goals scored by Benzema before his departure. The Frenchman scored 19 goals to Joselu’s 16. The ranking continues with Antoine Griezmann and Borja Iglesias on 15. Clearly there is no shortage of goals in LALIGA EA SPORTS! 

You will already have been aware that at Beyond Stats we analyse complex and advanced metrics, but our aim is to help you understand them in a simple and visual way. Each stat on our site is accompanied by a video and an infographic, connecting the numbers to the image and the action. Join us again for another exciting new season!