Stats: Mesut Ozil breaks Premier League record for most chances created in a season
Arsenal fans have not had much to rejoice this season after getting knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League after surrendering their lead in the Premier League title race. The Gunners’ inability to win games in the past couple of months have seen them fall back into top four mediocrity when this season was supposed to be the defining season of Arsene Wenger’s reign.
The team has failed as a whole but one player still stands out with his passing numbers. German midfielder and club record signing Mesut Ozil has broken the shackles that made him blow hot and cold in the previous two seasons as he had his best campaign in an Arsenal shirt.
The playmaker raced to an unbelievable 16 assists by the end of December as he looked to overhaul the Premier League record of 20 assists set by none other than club legend Thierry Henry.
But the assists have dried up in 2016 as the rest of the team faltered. He still has three more matches to go to make the record his own.
More: Has Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil really 'gone missing' in 2016?
According to Squawka, the 27-year-old has created 136 chances in the Premier League this season. To put that in contrast with other midfielders in the top four, Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez, who won the PFA Player of the Year award, has created only 52 while Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur has created 104.
Ozil went past Chelsea legend Frank Lampard who created 134 chances in the 2008/09 season. The English midfielder took home the club’s Chelsea's Player of the Year award that season and even appears twice on this list for his numbers in the 2009/10 double winning season where he even scored 22 goals in the league.
Cesc Fabregas also appears twice on this list but for his time as an Arsenal player. The first season at the Emirates saw him create 116 chances while the 2007/08 season when the Gunners were in the hunt for the title till March saw Fabregas create 112 chances.
Both Lampard and Fabregas have also come close to the assists record at Chelsea, finishing with 18 each.
Everton’s Leighton Baines is the only defender who makes an appearance in the list. The full-back created 116 chances in the 2012/13 season when the Toffees finished sixth.
| # | Player | Club | Season | Chances created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesut Ozil | Arsenal | 2015/16 | 137* |
| 2 | Frank Lampard | Chelsea | 2008/09 | 134 |
| 3 | Florent Malouda | Chelsea | 2010/11 | 117 |
| 4 | Leighton Baines | Everton | 2012/13 | 116 |
| Cesc Fabregas | Arsenal | 2006/07 | 116 | |
| 6 | Frank Lampard | Chelsea | 2009/10 | 114 |
| 7 | Cesc Fabregas | Arsenal | 2007/08 | 112 |
| 8 | Mikel Arteta | Everton | 2006/07 | 108 |
| 9 | Christian Eriksen | Tottenham Hotspur | 2015/16 | 105 |
| 10 | David Silva | Manchester City | 2012/13 | 104 |
Stats available only from 2003/04 when data was first collected