Odegaard and Fernandes top list of most creative Premier League players in 23/24 | OneFootball

With another season now in the books, we decided to look back at who were the league’s most attacking playmakers during the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Using data from fbref.com, we analysed the most creative attacking talent that topped the league with the most shot-creating actions, along with who the top playmaker from all 20 teams was this season.

Martin Odegaard named the Premier League’s most creative playmaker

1: Martin Odegaard

Martin Ødegaard tops the charts with a whopping 220 shot-creating actions during the 2023/24 Premier League season, working out at 6.41 chances created per 90 minutes played.

Of those 220, 23 were also goal-creating actions, the fourth highest in the league behind only Anthony Gordon (29), Cole Palmer (26) and Ollie Watkins (26).

2: Bruno Fernandes

Despite a difficult season for Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes was once again a standout star, proven by his high placement on this list.

The Portuguese playmaker was only ten shot-creating actions behind Odegaard on 210, boasting an impressive 6.06 shot-creating actions per game.

3: Bukayo Saka

Arsenal have two players in the top three, with Bukayo Saka ranking third.

The English forward provided 188 shot-creating actions this season which helped earn him nine assists this season, the most in the Arsenal team.

4: Pascal Groß

Although Brighton will be disappointed with their end-of-season form, one player who was a consistent creative force was Pascal Groß.

The German midfielder was responsible for 185 shot-creating actions, enough to earn him the joint third-highest number of assists this season with 10, behind only Palmer and Watkins.

5: Luis Diaz

Rounding off the top five is Liverpool’s Luiz Diaz, who had 163 shot-creating actions this season, an average of 5.58 per 90 minutes.

However, due to Liverpool’s poor finishing in front of goal, Diaz only managed to rack up nine goal-creating actions this season.

6: Cole Palmer

Palmer established himself as a creative force in the league this season, not just as a goalscorer but also as a playmaker.

He provided 162 shot-creating actions, 26 of which turned into goal-creating actions, the second-highest number in the league. He tallied 11 assists in his first full season.

7: James Maddison

Despite spending an extended period out injured this season, James Maddison still accumulated the seventh most shot-creating actions this season.

Maddison’s 161 shot-creating actions work out at 6.79 per game, a better per 90 rate than Odegaard and behind only Kevin De Bruyne’s 7.36 per game.

8: Rodri

Manchester City and Arsenal are the only teams with two players in the top ten, the highest of which for City is Rodri.

The Spanish midfielder created 157 shot-creating actions this season. An impressive 23 were also goal-creating actions, the joint third-highest in the league tied with Odegaard.

9: Morgan Gibbs-White

Although Nottingham Forest spent most of the season in a relegation battle, Morgan Gibbs-White created 149 shot-creating actions.

Gibbs-White ended the season as one of only 11 players with 10+ assists, behind only Watkins and Palmer.

10: Phil Foden

Foden provided 144 shot-creating actions this season, one more than Newcastle United duo Anthony Gordon and Bruno Guimarães to sneak into the top 10.

Only Palmer, (Erling Braut) Haaland, Watkins and (Mohamed) Salah finished the season with more combined goals and assists than Foden.

De Bruyne provided the most shot-creating actions per 90 minutes

Looking at the players in the top ten shot-creating actions per 90 minutes paints a slightly different story.

Due to missing the first half of the season, De Bruyne failed to make the top 10 overall. However, he tops the list of shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, averaging 7.36 per game.

Maddison leapfrogs Odegaard when weighted by per game, with the Arsenal captain dropping to third for shot-creating actions per 90 minutes.

Jeremy Doku and Bruno Fernandes round out the top five, with both players creating over six shot-creating actions per game.

Saka, Palmer and Diaz keep their spots in the top 10 when weighted by per 90 minutes. They are joined in the top 10 by Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise and Bournemouth’s Luis Sinisterra in seventh and tenth respectively.

The top playmaker this season for each Premier League club

Are you wondering how the players in your favourite team fared for the most shot-creating actions this season? Scroll down to see the top three for each Premier League team during the 2023/24 Premier League season.

Arsenal

Aston Villa

Brentford

Brighton & Hove Albion

Burnley

Chelsea

Crystal Palace

Everton

Fulham

Liverpool

Luton Town

Manchester City

Manchester United

Newcastle United

Nottingham Forest

Sheffield United

Tottenham Hotspur

West Ham United

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Author: Matt Seabridge

Matt is a sports content specialist producing data-led insights at Half Time Content. He has over seven years of experience in content production and is a lifelong Man Utd fan, which, sadly for him, isn’t quite as enjoyable as it used to be.