Fabregas taking his chances for Chelsea

Cesc Fabregas showed his creative powers once again on Sunday, coming off the bench in the 82nd minute and promptly setting up a goal for Willian as Chelsea triumphed 3-0 at Everton.

In the process the Spaniard greatly improved his minutes-per-assist ratio, leaving him with a clear lead as the best-ranked Premier League player this season.

Minutes per assist in 2016/17

The Chelsea midfielder has laid on a goal every 116.22 minutes on average, while Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho (167.33) is next in line.

When those who have played at least 40 matches, or 3,600 minutes, are compared, Fabregas is fifth in the all-time PL rankings, having set up a team-mate every 227 minutes during his spells with both Arsenal and Chelsea. 

He lies just behind Dimitri Payet (226.89), Nani (225.91), Jose Antonio Reyes (214.00) and Kevin De Bruyne (202.87), the Manchester City winger leading the way in this category.

Fabregas can better De Bruyne for minutes per chance created this season. The Blues midfielder has on average carved out a goalscoring opportunity every 24.33 minutes, the most frequent of any current Premier League player.

Best mins per chance created in 2016/17

While 15 of Fabregas’s 25 PL appearances this season have come as a substitute, he has still produced nine assists, leaving him among the top six players.

See: Assists charts in 2016/17

He has also recently moved into second place in the all-time list for assists, having set up 104 PL goals. 

All-time Premier League assists

See: All-time PL assists in full

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