First-class delivery: Kings of the crosses in the Premier League... but which England winger is the worst in the top flight?

It is one of the most important facets of the game but for fans can also be the most infuriating.

Crossing - the ability to deliver the ball from wide positions to a team-mate. Not as sexy as passing your way through a defence but potentially as effective.

It sounds so simple, in theory, but how many times have we groaned in frustration when the cross strikes the first defender or harmlessly drifts out of play and all momentum is lost?

The best and worst: West Ham's Matt Jarvis (left) has the most successful crosses in the Premier League this season, while Sunderland's Adam Johnson (right) has the worst percentage of balls that find team-mates



Well it seems this season, fans of Arsenal, Sunderland and Liverpool have the greatest cause for crossing complaint in the Premier League, while West Ham fare the best.

Opta statistics for the 31 rounds of the Barclays Premier League played to date show that the Hammers' wide men are more likely to pick out a team-mate in the middle than any others.

Just under one in four of West Ham's crosses find their target, while Matt Jarvis has honed his crossing skills to top the individual chart.



TABLE: Number of crosses played by each Premier League team this season and the percentage that find a team-mate TEAM

OPEN PLAY CROSSES

% THAT FIND TEAM-MATE

WEST HAM

633

24.49

NEWCASTLE

594

20.37

READING

578

20.07

MANCHESTER UNITED

573

19.55

ARSENAL

558

15.77

E VERTON

550

20.55

SUNDERLAND

544

16.73

STOKE

542

18.08

SOUTHAMPTON

535

21.12

WIGAN

510

19.22

NORWICH

489

21.88

MANCHESTER CITY

483

20.5

CHELSEA

479

17.54

TOTTENHAM

442

16.97

SWANSEA

437

22.88

FULHAM

432

17.36

LIVERPOOL

420

14.52

QUEENS PARK RANGERS

417

16.55

WEST BROMWICH ALBION

403

20.35

ASTON VILLA

389

19.02



Success: Andy Carroll, who scored twice against West Brom on Saturday, is usually the target of West Ham crosses

Source: Opta

That's unsurprising, however, given that he attempts more crosses than anyone else as part of Sam Allardyce's game plan to supply ammunition to Andy Carroll.

Jarvis, who was brought in from Wolves for this purpose in the summer, and Jean Beausejour at Wigan, are way out in front in the open play crosses chart, which also features Leighton Baines, Antonio Valencia and Gareth Bale.

Beausejour finds a team-mate 21 per cent of the time, Baines 20 per cent and Valencia 21 per cent. But Bale is down on a paltry 12.5 per cent, which may explain why he shoots from range more often nowadays.



The league's best supplier is Rickie Lambert, up on 36 per cent, though he only has four assists for the season, so it doesn't look like his fellow Saints are too good at feeding off him.

Crossing king: Southampton's Rickie Lambert tops the Premier League successful crosses chart

More selfish: Gareth Bale's low crossing ratio is a result of his tendency to run at defenders or shoot from range this season

Source: Opta

By contrast, Sunderland's Adam Johnson is the most likely to raise the blood pressure in the stands, with just nine per cent of his attempts locating anyone in the same coloured shirt.

It may go some way to explain why the Black Cats are having such a torrid time of it this season.

Arsenal too will lament the lack of potency from their wide men - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson and Theo Walcott all feature in the top 10 of worst crossers this season.

Overall, just over 15 per cent of Arsenal's deliveries from wide positions find anyone in the centre, just marginally better than Liverpool's 14.5 per cent.



It's enough to make you want to beat the first man yourself...

TABLE: The best and worst crossers in the Premier League by percentage



Source: Opta

