Tottenham Hotspur defender Micky van de Ven is outperforming every player acorss the top five leagues in one metric.
It has been an exceptional first season in the Premier League for the Dutch defender who is currently out with a hamstring injury.
However, it is not just within the Premier League where Micky van de Ven is impressing as he is also outperforming players across the continent.
What has Micky van de Ven done
Having joined in the summer from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, the 22-year-old has been nothing short of a revelation at the back.
The Dutchman quickly established himself as one of the starting centre-back’s in Ange Postecoglou’s starting XI.
And his absence has been sorely missed in his two spells on the sideline with hamstring issues.
According to Who Scored, the 22-year-old has the highest pass accuracy (95.3%) of any player across Europe’s top five leagues.
Defenders Andreas Christensen, Jonathan Tah and Marquinihos are the closest players to matching Van de Ven’s impressive feat.
What Micah Richards is concerned about with Van de Ven
This is not the first time Van de Ven has suffered with a hamstring issue in his short time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Earlier in the term, the Dutchman done himself some serious damage in the game against Chelsea as he suffered an injury which put him out for months.
The pain that hamstring issue caused him was clear to see with the 22-year-old screaming with pain whilst on the pitch.
And pundit Micah Richards has his concerns over how Postecoglou’s high line is potentially leading to these continuous hamstring issues.
He said: “But what that leads to is a race constantly. So Villa try to get the ball quickly forward, and then Van de Ven’s constantly having to sprint back. He’s got big numbers, one of the fastest players in the Premier League. But then now he’s going to be out if he’s tweaked his hamstring again.
“So they play great football, front-footed football, entertaining stuff that we all want to see, but for the centre-halves, it is hard work.”
Perhaps there is some truth in this, however, it is the way the Australian wants Tottenham to play and there could well be an adaption period injury-wise.
The concern will come if these hamstring issues are a constant issue over Van de Ven’s time in north London.
Spurs fans have already seen Ryan Sessegnon plagued by hamstring issues having underwent more surgery recently.
One thing which is certain is that Spurs certainly missed the Dutchman against Fulham as Radu Dragusin stepped in as his replacement.