Much has been made of the apparent “fact” that Leighton Baines hasn’t been in the best of form recently, but when you look at the stats, he quite simply blows all the competition out of the water.

The England international has created seven goals so far this season – more than young pretenders Kieron Gibbs or Luke Shaw have in their entire career – while all the time being described as “out of sorts” and having even missed a penalty on his way to his two goals.

Baines tops the leagues for assists in league games too, beating defenders costing almost 20 times (when combined) the £5m fee Everton paid for his services, and creates over a chance more per game than his nearest rival in the Premier League.

What is that old saying? Form is temporary, class is permanent? Well with Baines, it’s a case of both being permanent, even when he appears to not be at his best.