Ryan Fraser (6.1) is a name most managers are familiar with at this point in the season. The wee Scotsman, who is actually the shortest player in the entire premier league at 1.63m (5’3″), has been the creative powerhouse in the Bournemouth attack. So far, he has registered 5 goals and 9 assists in 2397 minutes. There has been a lot of debate whether or not he is a better fantasy option than his cheaper teammate, David Brooks (5.0), so I’ll be taking a deep dive into his statistics to see if he can maintain this level of attacking output.

Fraser has accumulated 3.09 xG and 9.17 xA, meaning that hes over-performing his expected goals by a sizable 1.91 but under-performing his expected assists by 0.17. Looking at this chart of his attacking output, he really isn’t much of a goal threat at all, only taking 1.24 shots per game. What stands out are his monstrous creative numbers, laying on 2.37 key passes per 90, which surpasses some of the premier league elite, such as Christian Eriksen, who provides only 2.11 a game. These chances are of good quality too, generating an average of 0.34 xA per game.

As previously stated, Fraser is much more of a creator than a finisher, so looking at his shot locations isn’t particularly pertinent. It seems like the majority of his chances are taken inside the box, but nearly all of them are low quality (less than 0.1 xG). The value he provides through his assists does offset his lack of goal scoring prowess, which has made him the top scoring midfielder at Bournemouth and the 10th highest scoring midfielder in the game.

Many managers are struggling with the decision whether to bring in Fraser or his cheaper counterpart Brooks for Bournemouth’s delicious remaining fixtures, so I’ll draw some statistical comparisons between the two of them to make the choice a bit easier.

It’s clear to see that the two of them have very different roles in the teams attack, with Brooks’ goal scoring numbers blowing Fraser’s out of the water, while Fraser puts Brooks’ creative abilities to shame. Some considerations I would have in regards to this comparison, are that Brooks was out injured during the roughest of Bournemouth’s fixtures, while Fraser played all of them, leading to a dip in his statistics. He has actually gone 8 games without an attacking return, creating only a pathetic 0.56 xA in that time! This could be accredited to the lack of Callum Wilson (6.3) in the side, due to injury issues, but frankly that statistic is enough to put me off Fraser. For some context, in the last 3 games that Brooks has played, against City, Chelsea and West Ham, he has created 0.86 xA and 1.29 xG.

As the saying goes, form over fixtures, and Fraser is one of the most out of form players in the entire league. We know the underlying quality is there, and perhaps with Callum Wilson in front of him again, he can recapture the magic. Until then, I’d advise not to be swayed by his points total and consider other options.

Shots/90: 1.24

Key Passes/90: 2.37

xG/90: 0.12

xA/90: 0.34

Verdict: Not worth it, get David Brooks instead