Comparing James Maddison's start at Tottenham to the career of other great playmakers

Tottenham are off to a flying start and James Maddison is a major part of that success. Of all the teams in the Premier League this season (23/24), none can better the number of shots Spurs have had so far - a whopping 153, with 56 being on target. That's a rate of 7 shots on target per 90.

The major contributor to those shots: James Maddison. He currently tops the table of Premier League shot creating actions (SCA) and goal creating actions (GCA). His SCA per 90 is 8.76, with his closest rival, Rodri, way off the pace at 6.19.

So lets put this in context. Let's look at this start to life at Spurs and compare it to the careers of some of the all time great playmakers. Messi and De Bruyne are up there with 7.22 and 6.69, but that's still a way of 8.76.

Football is all about consistency, and it's early days for Madders at Spurs. He gets kicked a lot and carries a lot of knocks, so this early pace will surely drop off. But if he can keep up anywhere near this level of form, we're looking at one of the Premier League's finest attacking midfielders of all time. And he's found the perfect club in which to be that player.