Premier League Matchweek 8 attacking stats: Most goals, shots, xG and more – plus top FPL performers

Matchweek 8 of the Premier League season saw twists in the developing title race as Manchester City suffered defeat at the hands of Aston Villa and Arsenal beat Everton to stay neck-and-neck with their perennial rivals.

Elsewhere, Liverpool got their first home league win under Andoni Iraola at the expense of flying Brighton, and Bournemouth heaped more misery on Manchester United by running riot at Old Trafford.

Here are Matchweek 8’s top attacking performers by a number of key metrics…

Premier League most goals: Jackson at the double to down City

Aston Villa have put their slow start to the season well and truly behind them, and Nicolas Jackson has been at the forefront of his side’s fine form in recent weeks, extending his purple patch with both goals in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Manchester City.

The Senegal international, who joined from Chelsea in the summer, has struck six times in his last six appearances in all competitions and four times in seven Premier League outings for Villa overall.

Steadily proving himself as a worthy successor to Ollie Watkins, Jackson produced two typically clinical finishes as Unai Emery’s men made it four wins on the spin – and recorded back-to-back league victories for the first time this term.

No other player scored more than once in Matchweek 8, though Erling Haaland moved one away from 10 Premier League goals for the campaign with his equalising header at Villa Park.

Premier League most shots: Gakpo goes on the offensive as Liverpool blow Brighton away

Cody Gakpo wasn’t on the scoresheet, but the winger did account for almost half of Liverpool’s 13 shots against Brighton, with the Reds striking twice in the first 21 minutes to snap the Seagulls’ four-match Premier League winning streak.

Four players had five shots this weekend, including Arsenal midfield duo Mikel Merino and Martin Odegaard in the Gunners’ 2-0 win over Everton that took them level on points with City at the top of the table.

Premier League most shots on target: Barcola and Brobbey among five perfectly accurate players

A host of players had a Premier League-high two shots on target in Matchweek 8, and five of them tested the goalkeeper at the very least with 100% of their attempts.

Bradley Barcola produced his strongest league showing yet in a Liverpool shirt, setting up Alexander Isak’s goal against Brighton and forcing two saves out of Bart Verbruggen, while Brian Brobbey – back from injury – called James Trafford into action twice in Sunderland’s 0-0 draw with Leeds.

Sean Longstaff of Newcastle (won 2-0 vs Crystal Palace) and Pedro Neto of Chelsea (lost 2-0 vs Tottenham) also hit the target with two shots out of two, but Arsenal’s Gabriel was the only player among the aforementioned five to find the net, heading home his first goal of the season to secure three points for the champions.

Premier League highest xG: Rayan revels in Man United chaos

Rayan’s instinctive finish from Justin Kluivert’s free-kick sent Bournemouth on their way to a memorable 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, leaving Michael Carrick on the brink.

That chance was worth 0.16 Expected Goals (xG), accounting for around a fifth of the Brazilian’s Matchweek-high return of 0.91.

Four other players racked up more than 0.75 xG, including Hull’s Oli McBurnie – who scored with his only shot, from the penalty spot, as the Tigers maintained their unbeaten home start with a 1-1 draw against, for whom Dango Ouattara would have done well to miss the 0.81 xG opportunity with which he equalised.

Premier League most big chances scored: Jackson just doesn’t miss

Nicolas Jackson was the only player to score multiple big chances this weekend – and he didn’t miss any either.

By contrast, Rayan might have felt he should have had a hat-trick, spurning three such opportunities in addition to his goal – while Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta and City’s Josko Gvardiol both wasted the two big chances that fell their way.

Top FPL midfielders in Matchweek 8: Bobb and Tel backers benefit from show of faith

Fulham’s Oscar Bobb and Spurs’ Mathys Tel feature in a mere 0.4% and 0.3% of Fantasy Premier League teams respectively – but those few managers who selected them reaped the rewards this time around.

Bobb and Tel both scored as Fulham won 1-0 at Coventry and Spurs triumphed 2-0 at bitter rivals Chelsea, each picking up 11 points in Fantasy.

That being said, thanks to his two-goal return, Nicolas Jackson (selected by 8%) posted the highest Fantasy points tally of any midfielder or forward in Matchweek 8 with 13.