Stats: Five of Premier League's 10 fastest players this season are from Leicester City
When fans talk about the fastest players in the EPL, names such as Arsenal forward Theo Walcott and Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling come to mind. But when it comes to the fastest players so far this season, they don’t feature anywhere in the top 10! Why, Walcott is even among the top 10 fastest players in EA Sports’ new game FIFA 16.
Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin may have broken Walcott’s club sprint record but he, too, is absent on this list. With all teams having played eight matches so far in the 2015/16 season, none of the aforementioned names have had the chance to ‘switch on the afterburners’ yet.
In fact, it is Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy who was clocked at 35.44 km/hr who has run the fastest so far. Currently the front runner for the Premier League Golden Boot with 7 goals, the English striker has been instrumental in the Foxes’ rise after a 2014/15 season where they flirted with relegation before pulling off a great escape towards the end.
His teammate Jeffrey Schlupp is second on the list, marginally slower than Vardy at 35.26 km/hr. The Ghanian left back, who has also played in left midfield, has also scored one goal this season against Norwich City in the last round of fixtures.
Third on the list is another full-back, Billy Jones of Sunderland. The 28-year-old Englishman has played at both right-back and left-back this season and clocked 35.07 km/hr on the speed gun.
Leicester City have five players in the list. Along with Vardy and Schlupp, they are joined by midfielder Marc Albrighton, defenders Ritchie de Laet and Wes Morgan. What makes the list more notable is that there six of the 10 players are defenders. In a league where they have to constantly be on their toes, it does not come as a surprise.
But none of them come close to Arjen Robben’s record-breaking pace of 37 km/hr in the 2014 World Cup against Spain.
| # | Player | Team | Position | Top Speed (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Vardy | Leicester City | Forward | 35.44 |
| 2 | Jeffrey Schlupp | Leicester City | Defender | 35.26 |
| 3 | Billy Jones | Sunderland | Defender | 35.07 |
| 4 | Marc Albrighton | Leicester City | Midfielder | 35 |
| Victor Moses | West Ham United | Midfielder | 35 | |
| 6 | Ritchie de Laet | Leicester City | Defender | 34.97 |
| Mame Biram Diouf | Stoke City | Forward | 34.97 | |
| 8 | Carl Jenkinson | West Ham United | Defender | 34.89 |
| 9 | Charlie Daniels | Bournemouth | Defender | 34.86 |
| 10 | Wes Morgan | Leicester City | Defender | 34.76 |
