With 6 goals and 4 assists in only 1710 minutes, David Brooks has captured the imagination of FPL managers this season. With his return from injury coinciding nicely with Bournemouth’s excellent run of fixtures, we’ll take a deep dive into his statistics to discover whether these returns are sustainable and determine his viability as a fantasy asset.

His total xG is 5.55, meaning he is over-performing by a meager 0.45, while his total xA is 3.46, meaning he is only over-performing by 0.54. Its always a very encouraging sign when a players real returns are staying true to the underlying expected totals, suggesting that this is not simply a result of good fortune.

To give some perspective outside the realm of statistics, Brooks in now returning from injury after Bournemouth’s terrible run of form and fixtures. At the cheap price of 5.0, he provides supreme value for fantasy managers, in fact he is the highest scoring player at the 5.0 and under price range. Many fantasy managers are unsure whether to bring him in or Ryan Fraser (6.1), for optimum Bournemouth attacking coverage. Fraser had a prolific partnership going with Callum Wilson (6.3) in the first half of the season, while David Brooks has operated quite well with striker Joshua King (6.5) in the following period. Let’s examine the attacking statistics that Brooks has to offer, to determine whether he would be adequate ‘coverage’.

Looking at these stats, I must say that I’m impressed. Brooks is taking an average of 1.89 shots per 90 minutes played, whilst laying on 1.11 key passes per 90. This alone indicates that he is an attacking minded player, so now lets explore his role within the attacking structure of the team. His minutes are fairly evenly split between a central midfield role and as a right midfielder. The majority of his goals have come when he plays in the right midfield position, with only one coming from the center of the park. But his combined xG/xA has been highest in the center of midfield, which would suggest that his optimal position in terms of benefit to the team is there.

Now to the final piece of analysis, shot locations. In this diagram, goals are represented in green, saved shots in blue, blocked shots in purple and shots that hit the post in yellow. I have chosen to omit missed shots. These shot locations are very encouraging. The vast majority of these are taken within the penalty area, showing some maturity with his shot choices, and indicate that he is consistently getting into good shooting positions.

To summarize, at the price of 5.0, David Brooks cannot be ignored. His stats indicate a large attacking threat, coming from sustained high quality chances throughout the season. I predict him to easily bag a few more goals during this sea of green that Bournemouth are now entering.

Shots/90: 1.89
Key Passes/90: 1.11
xG/90: 0.29
xA/90: 0.18

Verdict: Baller