TOP PROVIDERS

Some players admit the act of creating an assist for a teammate is a bigger thrill than scoring themselves

- Mark Gleeson

where football shifted from recording only fundamental data, such as goals, scorers and fouls, towards the world of analysis and metrics seen today. As such, it was always emotive and disliked by traditionalists. "You get this a lot with data," says New York Times columnist Rory Smith, who has written a book on football and data. "It's the same with xG [expected goals]. XG is a familiar concept to anyone who watches football. It's a way of saying, 'We had more and better chances than you." But because it has a sciencey name and the Americans came up with it, it's perceived as pretentious."

PSL ASSIST KINGS

Assists statistics are now available for the DStv Premiership, but are still a little sketchy... and certainly unofficial.

The PSL does not record them, but data providers do. Last season, it is claimed Khama Billiat (right) had the most assists: eight for Kaizer Chiefs.

In 2020/21 it was Augustine Mulenga of AmaZulu with nine and in the 2019/20 campaign, Lebogang Manyama from Chiefs with nine.