If you’re a fan of a Premier League club, there’s probably a player who soothes your nerves as soon as you see his name in the starting XI.
These players aren’t necessarily the most high-profile, but their influence on the final result is massive.
The stats boffins at Opta have provided Daily Mail Sport with the top 20 ‘lucky charms’ in the English top flight this season and also revealed who is the ‘luckiest’ at each club.
The player with the highest winning percentage in the league is English rising star Nico O’Reilly, who at just 21 has already become a crucial cog in Pep Guardiola’s machine.
Not only has O’Reilly shown he is an elite level defender and versatile enough to play at full-back or in midfield, but he also carries a huge goal threat.
He’s scored eight times and provided four assists in all competitions, underlining his importance the the team and his Premier League win rate is 77 per cent having started 26 games and won 20 of them.
Nico O’Reilly (right) has the highest win percentage of any Premier League player this season
City have four of the top five, with Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol and Nico Gonzalez also in there – but there’s a surprise name at No 3 in Kobbie Mainoo.
The Man United midfielder was heading towards the exit after being exiled by Ruben Amorim and had been desperate to join Napoli last summer and in January.
But he’s now completely reversed his fortunes after being entrusted with a starting role under interim boss Michael Carrick, so much so that he recently signed a contract extension to 2031.
Mainoo has a smaller sample size of 12 starts this term but his 75 per cent win rate is still not to be sniffed at.
Then the list features five Arsenal stars, led by a man Mikel Arteta must have wished was fully fit for the whole season. Arsenal may even have wrapped up the title by now if he could stay off the treatment table.
Bukayo Saka’s 73 per cent win rate has him in sixth position. He may have only scored six times and delivered four assists but output isn’t everything and clearly the attention defences have to give the right winger frees up space for team-mates.
Narrowly trailing Saka on 72 per cent is Eberechi Eze, Leandro Trossard, Ricciardo Calafiori, with Viktor Gyokeres on 71 per cent.
Unsurprisingly, the Gunners and City make up most of the rest of the top 20 but there is another unexpected name on the list, Aston Villa’s Boubacar Kamara.
A season-ending knee injury in January severely impacted Villa’s form, showing his importance to the group in what was his best season at the club.
His win rate of 71 per cent is outstanding and he is the only player not from Man City, Man United or Arsenal to make the top 20.
The other Man United player present is Harry Maguire, who has won 67 per cent of his games and started 15 times, earning three points in 10 of those.
| Player and Team | Wins as a Starter | Starts | % of Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nico O’Reilly – Man City | 20 | 26 | 77% |
| Jeremy Doku – Man City | 12 | 16 | 75% |
| Kobbie Mainoo – Man United | 9 | 12 | 75% |
| Nico Gonzalez – Man City | 11 | 15 | 73% |
| Josko Gvardiol – Man City | 11 | 15 | 73% |
| Bukayo Saka – Arsenal | 16 | 22 | 73% |
| Eberechi Eze – Arsenal | 13 | 18 | 72% |
| Leandro Trossard – Arsenal | 13 | 18 | 72% |
| Ricciardo Calafiori – Arsenal | 13 | 18 | 72% |
| Viktor Gyokeres – Arsenal | 17 | 24 | 71% |
| Boubacar Kamara – Aston Villa | 12 | 17 | 71% |
| Ruben Dias – Man City | 16 | 23 | 70% |
| Matheus Nunes – Man City | 19 | 28 | 68% |
| Gianluigi Donnarumma – Man City | 20 | 30 | 67% |
| William Saliba – Arsenal | 18 | 27 | 67% |
| Martin Odegaard – Arsenal | 10 | 15 | 67% |
| Harry Maguire – Man United | 10 | 15 | 67% |
| David Raya – Arsenal | 22 | 34 | 65% |
| Rayan Cherki – Man City | 11 | 17 | 65% |
| Tijani Reijnders – Man City | 11 | 17 | 65% |
Kobbie Mainoo has signed a new deal at Man United after a recent revival in form
Moving on to the ‘lucky charms’ of every Premier League side – the aforementioned cohort of Nico O’Reilly, Kobbie Mainoo and Bukayo Saka all feature.
Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike (62 per cent) and Chelsea defender Malo Gusto (43 per cent) are the representatives from Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.
Gusto’s 43 per cent perhaps demonstrates just what a struggle the season has been for Chelsea and you’d be hard pressed to call him a lucky charm.
Brighton midfielder Diego Gomez deserves a mention on 48 per cent.
The 23-year-old has been a revelation for the Seagulls and has been at the heart of their sensational recent run before suffering an injury.
Another notable name on the list is Mohammed Kudus. How different could Tottenham’s season have been if their summer signing had stayed fit. He had a 37 per cent win rate before his campaign was cut short.
Kudus went down in January with a thigh injury and suffered another setback meaning he might require surgery.
| Player | Wins | Starts | Win percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nico O’Reilly – Man City | 20 | 26 | 77% |
| Kobbie Mainoo – Man United | 9 | 12 | 75% |
| Bukayo Saka – Arsenal | 16 | 22 | 73% |
| Boubacar Kamara – Aston Villa | 12 | 17 | 71% |
| Hugo Ekitike – Liverpool | 13 | 21 | 62% |
| Diego Gomez – Brighton | 12 | 25 | 48% |
| Kenny Tete – Fulham | 10 | 21 | 48% |
| Malo Gusto – Chelsea | 10 | 23 | 43% |
| Daniel Munoz – Crystal Palace | 10 | 24 | 42% |
| Noah Sadiki – Sunderland | 12 | 29 | 41% |
| Vitali Mykolenko – Everton | 12 | 29 | 41% |
| Kevin Schade – Brentford | 12 | 29 | 41% |
| Anthony Gordon – Newcastle United | 9 | 24 | 38% |
| Ibrahim Sangare – Nottingham Forest | 9 | 24 | 38% |
| Mohammed Kudus – Tottenham | 7 | 19 | 37% |
| Evanilson – Bournemouth | 10 | 28 | 36% |
| Jayden Bogle – Leeds | 9 | 30 | 30% |
| Jacob Brun Larson – Burnley | 3 | 10 | 30% |
| Jarrad Bowen | 8 | 30 | 26 % |
| Matheus Mane – Wolves | 3 | 15 | 20% |
Mohammed Kudus has been sorely missed by Tottenham since suffering his thigh injury
He added a potency to the attack severely lacking and now could find himself playing in the Championship the next time he is fit again.
Anthony Gordon has been the shining light for Newcastle in a poor campaign – he’s on 38 per cent and the same can be said of Jarrod Bowen on 26 per cent.
Of the relegated teams – Burnley’s Jacob Brun Larson (30 per cent) and Wolves’ Matheus Mane (20 per cent) were the lucky charms, though neither man will be feeling much good fortune with the their fate confirmed.
