Sterling, Nunez, Jesus: 19 Premier League players to watch out for in 2022/23

It’s nearly time… the 2022/2023 season is almost upon us.

Starting this Saturday in the lower leagues of English football and via the Community Shield, competitive action will return with a bang.

Therefore keeping in with the theme, The Analyst and the number crunchers over at Opta, have paired up to identify the 50 best players across Europe’s big five leagues to keep an eye on.

We’ve picked out their 19 Premier League inclusions for you to browse over, combined with some snapshots of the analysis for a few players.

There’s plenty of big names, but also a lot of surprise packages – and remember, these are all based off what the data indicates.

Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)

“The Uruguayan striker scored 34 goals in 41 competitive appearances for the Portuguese giants last season, including 26 in 28 league games.

“With an average non-penalty xG of 0.19 per shot in 2021-22, he not only finds himself shooting from great quality positions, but he’s also able to convert these chances at a very high rate too.”

Reece James (Chelsea)

“In 2021-22, James was directly involved in 16 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea (six goals, 10 assists), which was the third most amongst Premier League defenders.

“An ongoing theme in James’ career has been the comparison with Trent Alexander-Arnold. While Alexander-Arnold might edge it in certain metrics, James’ numbers are still very effective and it’s his defensive solidity that has also caught the eye of Southgate.

“In the Premier League last season, James (0.6) was dribbled past by opposition players on average less often than Alexander-Arnold (1.0), suggesting a potential superiority in one-on-one defending.”

Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)

“Jesus has averaged a goal or assist