Leicester City winger Abdul Fatawu has now received praise for leading the Championship across one statistic this season.
Despite registering 24 shots on goal and recording 72% possession, Leicester City slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
In a match of fine margins, Enzo Maresca’s side struggled to break down Boro’s strong defence as they recorded just their fifth defeat of the season.
The loss also closed the gap between them and second-place Leeds United to nine points ahead of their clash against them on Friday night.
Leicester are normally a chance creation machine, led by the irrepressible Abdul Fatawu, so it was weird to see them struggle in that department.
The Ghanian, like many in blue, had a rare off-game against Boro but throughout this campaign, he’s been the man to rely on for crafting golden opportunities.
Abdul Fatawu has most big chances created in the Championship
Maresca’s Leicester squad is brimming with talent and Fatawu – who arrived on loan from Sporting Lisbon in the summer – has been one of the standouts, especially from a creative standpoint.
The 19-year-old has been an affluent source of creativity down the right flank, recording nine assists in the Championship this term while registering the most big chances created across the entire division.
Fatawu’s total of 24 big chances created places him above the likes of Georginio Rutter (20), Crysencio Summerville (16) and Leicester teammate Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (15).
He’s even been hailed as “incredible” by journalist Graham Smyth for putting up such numbers given there are still three months of the season left to go.
To put it into context, Ryan Giles’ total of 23 big chances created from left wing-back was the most in the second tier last season. Fatawu has already surpassed that total with 13 matches left to play.
A special talent
Considering he’s still only a teenager, Fatawu has adapted to the physical demands of Championship football phenomenally well and the fact he’s the most creative player in the division speaks volumes of his talent.
Of course, other areas of his game need refining, such as his decision-making in the box and his ability to take chances.
But, at the age of 19, those are easy improvements to make for a player who looks destined to be playing Premier League football next season.
And, if he can translate those chance creation numbers over to the top flight for Leicester, they will cause most teams a threat on the counter-attack.