We know that Manchester United won the title
while Wigan, Reading and QPR went down. But who were the statistical
heroes of the campaign? Sky Sports has teamed up with Opta to take a
look at the players who impressed in the Premier League this season.
Goals and Shots
Robin van Persie was the Premier League's top scorer for a second successive season and widely acknowledged as the single biggest factor in deciding the outcome of the title. His 26 goals for Manchester United included 18 before the end of January as the Red Devils stormed to title number 20 in what turned out to be Sir Alex Ferguson's final campaign.
Van Persie's efficiency is shown by the fact that he did not top the shots category with Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez both hitting the target more times than the Dutchman. Bale and Suarez were the only other players to reach the 20-goal mark in the league as they emerged as the undoubted focal points of attack for Tottenham and Liverpool respectively.
A mention too for the feats of two Premier League newcomers in Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke and Swansea forward Michu. Benteke led the line for Villa's young side and with an astonishing 14 goals since the turn of the year played a huge part in their survival. Michu did his damage in the first part of the season with his 13 goals before Christmas seeing the Spaniard rightly acclaimed as the bargain buy of last summer.
| Premier League 2012/13 - Goals | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Robin van Persie | Man Utd | 26 |
| Luis Suarez | Liverpool | 23 |
| Gareth Bale | Tottenham | 21 |
| Christian Benteke | Aston Villa | 19 |
| Michu | Swansea | 18 |
| Premier League 2012/13 - Shots on target | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Gareth Bale | Tottenham | 73 |
| Luis Suarez | Liverpool | 72 |
| Robin van Persie | Man Utd | 65 |
| Demba Ba | Chelsea | 54 |
| Romelu Lukaku | WBA | 47 |
Assists and Passes
Juan Mata tops the assists table at the end of the season after a fine campaign for Chelsea. The Spain international was actually axed from the national squad in October but his form for the Blues was remarkably consistent. With Eden Hazard also on the list of top assisters, Chelsea clearly had plenty of invention in their attacking midfield positions.
Wayne Rooney also got into double figures for assists - something worth remembering as speculation continues over his future at Manchester United. But one man who will not be leaving Old Trafford is Michael Carrick and his 2,443 passes reflect his significance to the newly-crowned champions.
Arsenal players also feature prominently in both categories, something that is hardly surprising given that the Gunners completed more passes than any other Premier League team this season. Mikel Arteta was the man who made them tick from deep, while the nous of Santi Cazorla and the pace of Theo Walcott provided the thrust in the final third.
| Premier League 2012/13 - Assists | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Juan Mata | Chelsea | 12 |
| Eden Hazard | Chelsea | 11 |
| Santi Cazorla | Arsenal | 11 |
| Theo Walcott | Arsenal | 10 |
| Wayne Rooney | Man Utd | 10 |
| Premier League 2012/13 - Passes completed | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Mikel Arteta | Arsenal | 2517 |
| Michael Carrick | Man Utd | 2443 |
| Yaya Toure | Man City | 2246 |
| Santi Cazorla | Arsenal | 2145 |
| Steven Gerrard | Liverpool | 2042 |
Dribbles and Crosses
The stand-out star here is clearly Suarez with an astonishing 291 dribbles - almost twice as many as his nearest Premier League rival. It shows just how much of a threat he posed to defences this season and perhaps indicates that he felt the need to make things happen for himself in the Liverpool attack.
It's no surprise to see the individualistic talents of Adel Taarabt and Hatem Ben Arfa feature in the list of top dribblers, while Bale makes an appearance in both the dribbling and crossing categories - the latter suggesting he is still trying to lay on goals for others as well as himself.
Leighton Baines leads the way in terms of crosses with his accurate delivery continuing to be an important weapon for Everton. West Ham's £10million-man Matt Jarvis has come in for some criticism this season for a lack of assists but the fact that he is next on this list shows that he has been putting the ball in the box for Sam Allardyce's side.
| Premier League 2012/13 - Dribbles | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Luis Suarez | Liverpool | 291 |
| Adel Taarabt | QPR | 159 |
| Hatem Ben Arfa | Newcastle | 155 |
| Gareth Bale | Tottenham | 154 |
| Mohamed Diame | West Ham | 149 |
| Premier League 2012/13 - Crosses | |||||||||||
| Player Name | Team | Total | |||||||||
| Leighton Baines | Everton | 241 | |||||||||
| Matt Jarvis | West Ham | 213 | |||||||||
| Jean Beausejour | Wigan | 193 | |||||||||
| Robert Snodgrass | Norwich | 186 | |||||||||
| Gareth Bale | Tottenham | 178 | |||||||||
Tackles and Blocks
Morgan Schneiderlin and his stats have gained the sort of attention Leon Britton received last year with the Frenchman topping the list for most tackles and interceptions in the Premier League. His presence in the Southampton midfield alongside Jack Cork was a key factor in the team's successful return to the top flight.
Mohamed Diame also appears in the list of the Premier League's top tacklers and given that he also ranks in the top five dribblers in the division it shows that the Hammers midfielder has a dual role in the centre of the park.
In terms of blocks, Wales captain Ashley Williams heads the list after another fine season with Swansea. The 28-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Welsh club in the summer and it is easy to see why as his no-nonsense defending as part of a passing side makes him an attractive proposition for teams at the top end of the table.
| Premier League 2012/13 - Tackles | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Morgan Schneiderlin | Southampton | 146 |
| Lucas Leiva | Liverpool | 123 |
| Mohamed Diame | West Ham | 114 |
| Pablo Zabaleta | Man City | 113 |
| Premier League 2012/13 - Blocks | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Ashley Williams | Swansea | 52 |
| Brede Hangeland | Fulham | 41 |
| James Collins | West Ham | 40 |
| Ryan Shawcross | Stoke | 37 |
Clean Sheets and Saves
Joe Hart claims the Premier League Golden Glove award for a third consecutive season thanks to his 18 clean sheets. Whether the Manchester City goalkeeper will be happy with his own efforts this year is another matter as his form seemed to take a dip with a number of disappointing mistakes hurting his side's hopes of retaining the title.
Meanwhile, West Ham's Jussi Jaaskelainen made more saves than any other goalkeeper.
Understandably there is little correlation between the keepers who kept the most clean sheets and those that had to make the most saves, but the presence of Petr Cech shows that the experienced Chelsea goalkeeper enjoyed a successful season despite being left exposed at times.
| Premier League 2012/13 - Clean sheets | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Joe Hart | Man City | 18 |
| Pepe Reina | Liverpool | 14 |
| Petr Cech | Chelsea | 14 |
| Asmir Begovic | Stoke | 12 |
| Premier League 2012/13 - Saves | ||
| Player Name | Team | Total |
| Jussi Jaaskelainen | West Ham | 164 |
| Simon Mignolet | Sunderland | 149 |
| Mark Schwarzer | Fulham | 136 |
| Petr Cech | Chelsea | 118 |
| Brad Guzan | Aston Villa | 114 |
source: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11096/8724027/Season-in-stats
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