Premier League superlatives: The 25 best and worst players at different skills

London — Speed demons, passing wizards, serial misfirers and the league’s most two-footed enigma: the second annual Gradient Sports data dive has delivered a fresh batch of Premier League superlatives that will fuel pub debates until May.

Nico O’Reilly’s left foot is practically a cult. The Manchester City teenager uses his right only 3.3 % of the time, making him the most one-footed outfielder in England’s top flight. At the opposite extreme, Brighton’s Georginio Rutter retains his ambipedal crown, deploying his right 39.2 % of the time, just ahead of Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo (35 %).

If you want raw pace, forget the table-toppers and look to the bottom. Wolves’ 19-year-old winger Chéry Tchatchoua is the league’s fastest player, averaging 35.78 km/h over his five quickest one-second bursts—almost 0.4 km/h clear of Chelsea’s Pedro Neto. Remarkably, 35-year-old Kyle Walker is still among the elite, clocking in above 34 km/h.

Yet speed is no guarantee of minutes. Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, also 19, has the third-slowest top speed among outfielders (28.65 km/h) and has seen his progression stall, whereas Casemiro has climbed off the league’s slowest mark last season to a more respectable 29.85 km/h.

Bruno Fernandes has silenced exit rumours by leading the league in overall passing grade (98.6), while Burnley’s Dan Burn owns the lowest under-pressure mark (46.9) among regulars. Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai tops the unwanted shooting category—26 attempts when a pass was the superior option—but Manchester City’s Nico González is the serial offender per attempt: 83.3 % of his shots fall into that bracket.

Erling Haaland, by contrast, has taken 91 shots—25 more than any other player—yet only eight came with a team-mate better placed, underlining the Norwegian’s ruthless shot selection.

In ball-carrying, nobody can touch Ryan Gravenberch. The Dutchman’s 90.5 grade is four points clear of the field, and he is tied for the league lead in “body-open receptions” (213), a metric that captures how often he collects the ball facing forward and ready to drive.

Jérémy Doku is both the quickest decision-maker (2.68 seconds per possession) and the league’s through-ball king with a 95.3 grade, miles ahead of Martin Ødegaard (88.8). The Belgian, however, has taken only 12 shots all season.

From the spot and from distance, dead-ball honours are split. Mainz loanee Anthony Stach has scored twice from four free-kick attempts, but Liverpool’s Szoboszlai owns the only 2.0-graded strike and two more above 1.5, giving him the composite shooting crown (90.7). Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton props up the opposite end, posting the worst shot grade among players with 10+ attempts.

Athleticism is not merely pace. Gradient’s composite score, adjusting for position, height and minutes, crowns Crystal Palace right-back Daniel Muñoz the league’s supreme athlete (99.6/100). Wolves’ André sits at the other extreme (0.7/100), a potential explanation for why a move to a top-six side never materialised.

Between the sticks, reliability is prized over highlight reels. PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, on loan at the Premier League’s worst team, is the only starting keeper yet to register a negative grade when facing a shot. Bayern’s Manuel Neuer has been error-prone on loan at the league’s mid-table surprise package, committing seven shot-facing mistakes—the most by percentage (6.5 %) as well as raw total.

Virgil van Dijk dominates the chaos. The Liverpool captain leads the league with a 96.6 challenge grade and the most positively rated contested-ball interventions. Yet the reigning Player of the Year, Phil Foden, is dead last among qualifiers in 50-50 duels (50.6 grade), a hole in an otherwise sparkling campaign.

Mistakes are not just for attackers. Chelsea’s Reece James (3.89) and Malo Gusto (3.12) are the only defenders averaging more than three positional errors per 30 minutes out of possession. Arsenal’s William Saliah, by contrast, makes the fewest (0.51), with team-mate Gabriel fourth (0.74).

Set-piece supremacy belongs to Arsenal as well. Declan Rice, the league’s best crosser by grade, delivers the ball into the corridor of uncertainty more reliably than any winger or full-back, allowing Mikel Arteta’s side to station a phalanx of aerial giants in the box while Rice stays outside the area.

The numbers, quirky as some may be, reinforce a broader truth: in a season where margins feel microscopic, singular traits—Tchatchoua’s after-burners, Doku’s vision, Muñoz’s stamina, Saliba’s invisibility cloak—can swing points, trophies and legacies.