Who are Africa’s top Premier League stars?

Goals

Jamie Vardy leads the division, on 19 goals, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is just behind him with 17 goals from 26 matches, making him Africa’s top scorer in the division.

The Gabon international continues to be linked with a move away from Arsenal when the transfer window opens, and if he does leave, it would be a major ask for the Gunners to replace his goals.

Assists

Riyad Mahrez is Africa’s top performer in this category, even though he’s started fewer matches (15) than any of the league’s other top 20 creators.

Mahrez’s return is eight assists, and while he’s Africa’s top star in this category, he’s still some way behind teammate Kevin De Bruyne on 16.

Pass-success rate

Mahrez is also Africa’s top performer here.

It’s perhaps unsurprising, considering Manchester City—who typically dominate possession in their matches—have five players in the top nine, although the Algeria international has still demonstrated superb accuracy with a success rate of 89.4 percent.

This puts him only slightly behind the division’s most accurate passer, Nicolas Otamendi, who has completed 92.4 percent of his passes so far this term.

Yellow Cards

Watford’s Franco-Malian midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure and West Ham United’s Franco-Senegalese centre-back Issa Diop are two of the bad boys here, having amassed eight yellow cards during a campaign in which both have found themselves mired in a relegation battle.

They’re tied with Romain Saiss, of Wolves, who are much higher up the table, although none of the trio can match Chelsea’s Jorginho, who’s picked up 10 bookings in 26 outings.

Shots per game

Mohamed Salah is atop the charts for the entire division here, let alone African players.

He’s averaged 3.8 shots per game so far this season, which is 0.4 ahead of Raul Jimenez and Marcus Rashford in second place.

Salah’s desire to take aim at goal has produced results, however, with the Egypt international netting 16 goals in his 26 outings to date.

Aerial battles won

Top of the charts here is West Ham United’s Franco-Ivorian striker Sebastien Haller, who’s impressed during his maiden Premier League season, even though he’s only managed a fairly modest seven goals to date.

He wins, on average, 7.6 aerial battles per week, which puts him joint top of the rankings alongside Watford’s Troy Deeney.

Tackles won

Unsurprisingly, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi is Africa’s top performer here.

The Nigeria international averages four completed tackles per match this season, as he continues to demonstrate to observers why he’s one of the most effective midfield destroyers in the division.

The 23-year-old is behind only teammate Ricardo Pereira (4.3 tackles per match) in the overall standings.

Interceptions per match

Ndidi is also the most consistent African ‘interceptor’ in the division as well.

He interrupts opposition passes 2.7 times per match, putting him just behind the league’s top performer in this category—Diego Rico of Bournemouth.

Some way behind Ndid, joint fourth in the division, is Bournemouth’s Danish-Nigerian midfielder Philip Billing.

Dribbles per match

Adama Traore has built his reputation on being a sensational dribbler, and it will come as little surprise that the Hispano-Malian tops the standings here.

For years, Traore was a player who could showcase his exceptional ability to beat a man but offered precious little in terms of a tangible output in the final third.

However, that’s firmly changed at Wolves, where his league-high 5.2 dribbles per match is accompanied by four goals and seven assists