From Barcelona to Spurs: What do the stats say about Emerson Royal’s start to life in the EPL? | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur signed Emerson Royal from FC Barcelona on the deadline day of the summer transfer window. Serge Aurier terminated his contract and this meant that Spurs were only left with Matt Doherty in the right-back position. Since his signing, Emerson has appeared in every league game for his new club.

The 22-year-old right-back has started in three games and was subbed on at half-time against Arsenal. The defender was unfortunate to lose his first three games in the Premier League. However, in the game against Aston Villa, Spurs won and Emerson showed some improvement in his statistics.

Emerson attempted his first shot in the previous game. He attempted more passes which also included five long passes. The Brazilian attempted has attempted seven crosses and four of them were against Villa. He has taken three touches in the opposition box so far and all of them were in the same match.

When looking at the above chart, the general rule is that the longer the bar the better the performance – you can see the league average in the middle and the % is the percentile rank the player is in.

Emerson is ranked high in the league for the defensive actions he takes in a match. The player averages around 18 defensive actions in the 90 minutes action. This includes around 12-13 defensive duels which he contests in every match. His duels win % is low when compared to the other defenders in the league. However, he averages more than two recoveries in the opposition box and is ranked high amongst the other defenders. Emerson also averages more than five interceptions per match and these numbers are better than most of the other defenders.

Emerson’s heatmap shows that his average position is inside his own half. He has featured less in attack and has been involved in more defensive actions. Emerson has attempted seven crosses so far and four were attempted in the previous match.

The above viz is the pass map of Emerson this season. His passes are a mixture of sideways passes, backward passes and some forward passes. He has attempted two passes from inside the opposition box. The highest threat is created from two passes into the opposition box.

The Brazilian has attempted the most number of passes towards midfielder Højbjerg. A total of 24 passes were attempted and those passes didn’t create any threat. The highest threat is created with the passes towards more attacking midfielder Lo Celso. His nine passes created an xT rate of 0.17.

Emerson has defended in most of the games he has played this season. His defensive actions are more than his attacking actions. The team also lost three matches and won one match. He showed some improvement in the previous match and the manager would be expecting more from the young full-back.