EPL stats breakdown: Mooy, Okazaki and Yoshida

2 min read 30 August 2017

Thursday night's massive World Cup qualifier in Saitama between Japan and the Caltex Socceroos is set to feature three outfield English Premier League players.

How have Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy, Japanese striker Shinji Okazaki and defender Maya Yoshida performed in the first three games of their seasons for Huddersfield Town, Leicester City and Southampton respectively?

We've crunched the Opta stats to find out...

GOALS AND CHANCES

Okazaki was up and running nice and early, netting on opening day against Arsenal and again the following weekend against Brighton.

Mooy opened his Premier League account, scoring the winner in Town's 1-0 win over fellow new-boys Newcastle United.

He also provided the assist for Steve Mounie to open the scoring in their opening day 3-0 win over Crystal Palace.

In fact, Mooy has created four chances for his team-mates already this season, compared to one by Okazaki.

SHOTS

Not surprisingly for a striker, Okazaki has fired off the most attempts at goal of the trio, taking five shots at goal.

But Yoshida has shown an eye for a chance too, letting fly three times, although none have been on target.

By contrast, Mooy has taken just two shots, both of which have been on the mark.

PASSING

Yoshida has attempted the most passes with 180, followed closely by Mooy with 168.

However, 70% of Mooy's passes have been in the attacking half compared to 28% of Yoshida's.

Mooy's accuracy is also better, with 82.7% of his passes finding a team-mate, compared to Yoshida's 80%.

Okazaki has passed the ball just 50 times and only at 64% accuracy.

TACKLES AND FOULS

Mooy certainly hasn't shirked his defensive responsibilities, making nine tackles, compared to five by Okazaki and just three by Yoshida.

However, Yoshida has won all three of his tackles, while Mooy has won just four of his nine.

Okazaki has given up the most fouls with five, while Yoshida has conceded three; Mooy though is yet to concede a foul in 270 minutes of Premier League football.