Top 1.5% of Championship centre-backs for defensive duels per 90: The Luton Town man who has particularly impressed this season | OneFootball

Despite losing Kal Naismith and Peter Kioso in the summer, Tom Lockyer had to sit patiently on the bench in Luton Town’s first four Championship matches of the campaign.

Starting 16 out of the 17 league matches since then, the Welshman, who travelled to Qatar as part of the Wales squad, has been in excellent form and is now seemingly undroppable.

Without Lockyer in the side, the Hatters have kept clean sheets in just 20% of their games, whilst with the defender in the starting XI, they have managed a clean sheet rate of 44%.

Combative, an excellent reader of the game, and a real leader, Lockyer has certainly won the hearts of the Luton faithful, with his passionate displays of emotion being there for all to see.

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The Hatters still have Reece Burke to return from injury, whilst it is likely that they will add to their defensive options when January comes around, but ultimately, it would be a shock if Lockyer was not to cement himself as a regular under new boss Rob Edwards.

Whilst we wait for the second half of the campaign to progress, here, using Wyscout, we take a look at how the Luton defender has performed compared to other centre-backs in the division…

Tom Lockyer’s percentile rank performance against other Championship defenders with over 500 minutes played this season.

Within the 99th percentile when it comes to defensive duels per 90 and successful defensive actions per 90, it is clear to see that the Welshman is about as combative as they come, with Lockyer also above the median mark when it comes to his defensive duel success rate.

Proving to be a good reader of the game too, the 28-year-old is within the top 12% of Championship defenders in shots blocked per 90, whilst he is in the top 24% in possession-adjusted interceptions.

Important for the Hatters when in possession, Lockyer ranks very highly in progressive passes per 90, whilst he is within the top 36% of Championship centre-backs when it comes to the accuracy of these types of passes.

Interestingly, the only measure that Lockyer ranks lower than the median mark for is aerial duels won, with Lockyer in the 40th percentile.

It is clear to see that the Luton man has emerged as one of the best defenders in the Championship this season, with the data certainly meeting his impressive displays on the eye.