Fulham played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Reading in their last league game with goals from Bryan Ruiz, a second goal in two games from Chris Baird, and a late goal from Dimitar Berbatov.
Ruiz’s first goal of the Premier League season was just rewards having had 13 shots at goal with 10 on target, an impressive 77% on target. Berbatov had one of the best minutes per goal ratings in the Premier League last season, and is looking on good form again this season having scored three goals from 18 shots with 61% on target
John Arne Riise now has four assists so far this season, more than any other defender this season
Aaron Hughes made 23 interceptions in the game to contribute to a seesaw encounter, the second highest by a player in an individual game this season. Meanwhile Brede Hangeland made 19 interceptions, enough to go in at 8th for interceptions in a single game.
Everton took part in an entertaining and eventful Merseyside derby in their last fixture
Leon Osman and Steven Naismith were on target in the 2-2 draw, which clearly fired up Moyes’ side as they covered 62.54 miles as a team, their second highest team total of the season
Osman’s goal was his second of the season from 20 attempts at goal with 9 on target, while Naismith had not registered a single effort at goal until he fired in Everton’s second
Marouane Fellaini enjoyed a competitive midfield battle with Steven Gerrard, which led the Liverpool skipper to brand Everton long ball specialists who played like Stoke
The stats, however, tell a different story as Everton’s Steven Pienaar has completed exactly the same number of passes in his opponent’s half as Gerrard with 281 – both lead their teams in this discipline.
Leighton Baines is ranked second at Everton for passes completed in the opposition half with 265 compared to Liverpool’s second ranked player Joe Allen who has made 244.
Marouane Fellini and Leon Osman make it four Everton players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s top 20 for passes completed in the opponent’s half. Meanwhile Leighton Baines has pulled ahead in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index for crosses delivered, having delivered 46 crosses compared to Gerrard’s 42
