Sterling, Saka, Grealish: James Maddison's stats compared to other English PL stars | OneFootball

James Maddison has been on fire this season.

And that’s no small statement when you consider that Leicester City have, until recently, been wading through Premier League form so poor that many fans thought Brendan Rodgers was going to be sent packing.

However, through the Foxes’ difficult moments just as much as their recent resurgence, Maddison has been a constant shining light with his enigmatic displays in midfield driving the team forward.

How did Maddison perform vs Everton?

In fact, you only had to look at Maddison’s performance at Everton on Saturday night to get a handle on just how crucial he is to a Leicester side that’s slowly finding its feet again.

Maddison was a constant thorn in Everton’s side as he probed away at their defence, giving Jordan Pickford more than a few heart-in-mouth moments as he rattled the post at Goodison Park.

And while the goal that Maddison so richly deserved on Merseyside never actually transpired, he nevertheless provided both assists as Leicester ran away 2-0 victors.

The 25-year-old fed the ball to Youri Tielemans to score an early ‘Goal of the Season’ contender, before cutting it back to Harvey Barnes to wrap up the three points after a penetrative run down the left flank.

Will Maddison go to the 2022 World Cup?

So, with Maddison adding another two goal contributions to his burgeoning collection, you’d feel pretty safe in assuming that he would be included in England’s World Cup squad if you didn’t know any better.

Besides, the simple fact of the matter is that Maddison has been in consistently excellent form for some time now and off the back of a fantastic 2021/22 season, too, so he wouldn’t merely be a selection born out of recency bias.

But there’s a problem: Gareth Southgate simply hasn’t been picking the Leicester star with a solitary outing against Montenegro in 2019 remaining his only England cap to date.

Now, only Southgate knows the full reason behind Maddison being snubbed for so many England camps, but it’s hard to imagine his performances on the pitch having much to do with things considering just how superb they’ve been.

Graphic compares Maddison to England stars

After all, you only have to look at a truly eye-opening Sky Sports graphic that is doing the rounds on social media on the back of Leicester’s win to see the extent to which Maddison has put a cat amongst the pigeons.

Documenting the number of Premier League goal involvements amassed since the start of last season, the graphic shows Maddison getting the better of many players who star in similar positions who are far more regularly called up by England.

It truly is a head-turning set of statistics and they’re spreading across Twitter like wildfire, so be sure to peruse the data for yourself to see what you make of the numbers.

Video: Sky Sports discuss Maddison’s stats vs other England stars

Opinion: England must take Maddison to the World Cup

In the opinion of your humble GIVEMESPORT writer, Maddison has to be on the plane.

If Southgate has good reason for snubbing Maddison to this point that I’m not aware of, then fair enough, but from the evidence presented, it’s hard not to think that leaving him out of the World Cup squad would be anything short of a crime.

I’m not saying he should start, I’m not even saying that he should be the first port of call off the bench, but there’s good reason to believe that he’s exactly the sort of dynamic and inventive presence that could be vital in the later stages of games.

It’s hard not to look at the recent stats and to think that Maddison, while less technically gifted than Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho and perhaps even Conor Gallagher, will simply have a lot more end product than many of the other candidates for selection.

He’d be high on confidence, unfettered by previous tournament heartache and itching to prove to Southgate right in taking a last-minute risk on him.

The only thing that I can think of that would hold Southgate back in terms of the on-the-pitch matters is whether Maddison would make for one player too many in an already gridlocked list of attacking midfielders.

However, it’s getting to the point now that Maddison has been in such good form for so long despite playing for an inconsistent Leicester side that he simply can’t do anymore to break into the Three Lions set-up.

And if there’s any slither of hope that Maddison might be heading to Qatar in just a few weeks’ time, then it’s thanks to excellent performances like his Everton masterclass that have led to stats that can hold their own against the other England lads.

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