Matt O'Riley earns mega Celtic acclaim as stats crown him Premiership's most creative player

Matt O'Riley has been crowned the Premiership's most creative player as an Opta stat chart sees the Celtic star lead the way for chances created.

The Denmark U21 midfielder has enjoyed an impressive start to the season under Ange Postecoglou and started every game prior to their clash with St Mirren before the international break. And he was a big miss in that one as they fell to a shock 2-0 defeat in Paisley.

O'Riley has been one of the Hoops' main creative forces with five assists so far - more than any player in the league at the seven game mark. But a deep dive from Opta shows it is far more than that as he's also created more chances than any other player in the division. According to a graphic posted by Opta analyst, O'Riley has created 16 chances, with his teammate Jota second (15) and Hibs' Martin Boyle third (13).

Rangers ' Borna Barisic has created 12, the same number as Hearts' Barry McKay. The report also compiles data on secondary chances, which is defined as "when a player makes the pass to the player who created the chance." Greg Taylor leads the way by some distance with 16 secondary chances, but when it's all put together, O'Riley takes top spot with 27.

That's despite the former Fulham man playing just 485 minutes - fewer than Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor and Jota, who make up a Celtic dominated top four. David Turnbull is the other Celtic player in the top ten, while James Tavernier, Barisic, Boyle, McKay and surprisingly Ryan Porteous round out the top ten.

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