Is George Boyd the Premier League’s Fittest Player?

There is always a lot of debate surrounding the Premier League’s best players, whether it is the best striker, goalkeeper, defender or any other position. However, sometimes it is fun to look at some other statistics.

For instance, this season Stoke City’s Steven N’Zonzi has run further on pitch than any other player in the league. He has covered 187.1286 miles this season followed by Burnley’s George Boyd who has covered 186.1685 miles. However, George Boyd has covered a greater distance per game than any other player, a massive 7.45 miles followed by Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic at 7.25 miles.

George Boyd has also run more in a single game than any almost other player; in Burnley’s game against Newcastle United he covered 8.42 miles. This is equalled by Manchester City’s James Milner who ran the same distance in his team’s game against Stoke City.

It seems that George Boyd really is one of the most energetic players this season as he also comes second in the list of total sprints. Scott Arfield (also of Burnley) tops that list with 1,817 sprints, but Boyd isn’t far behind at 1,771 sprints.

As these figures have hinted, Burnley as a team has covered more distance this season than any other team at 1,953.91 miles.

However, Manchester City isn’t far behind at 1,906.28 miles and Everton is at 1,878.93 miles. Burnley is also top of the list for total sprints this season at 14,649 followed by City at 14,033.
It is up to the individual how they interpret these figures.

Clearly the player or team that runs the most isn’t necessarily the best as Burnley is currently in the penultimate position in the league. However, Manchester City as a team has also covered a lot of ground, perhaps suggesting that it is the overall energy of a team, rather than an individual, that makes the difference.