When writing this article, data is as of December 12, 2024, where all teams have played 15 Premier League games, except for Everton and Liverpool, which had their derby game postponed due to weather, and have both played 15 games.
In this article, we look at the top 10 worst passers so far in the Premier League. To note, there are a few caveats with this top 10 list.
For starters, players are ranked in terms of their passing completion percentage. Which means, the total number of passes completed, divided by the total number of passes attempted. Passes include all live ball passes, as well as corner kicks, throw-ins, and free kicks and goal kicks.
Secondly, to qualify for this list, players have to have played, on average, at least 30-minutes per squad game. Meaning, the list focuses on players who in general, are regular players and have taken part in a considerable number of Premier League games for their respective teams.
Diving into the Details
Alright – let’s get started. For starters, the top 10 worst passers includes goalies, as well as some forwards/midfields. There aren’t any out-and-out defenders on the list. This makes sense as a lot defenders make several, short distance passes, to other defenders, their goalie, or midfielders checking-in, which are often completed successfully.
Pass lengths are classified as short (5 to 15 yards), medium (15 to 30 yards) and long (30+ yards). In most cases, attempted long passes are when completion percentages drop significantly. This makes sense, as there are a lot more uncontrolled variables at play for long distance passes. For example, wind and rain have greater impact on the ball, impacting the flight path, and of course, the greater distance a pass, the more chance of it being hit incorrectly and missing it’s intended target or intercepted by the opposition.
With all that being said, let’s get to the list.
Matz Sels
To date, and based on the caveats included above, the worst passer so far in the Premier League is Nottingham Forrest goalie, Matz Sels. Out of the 409 attempted passes, only 206 have been completed successfully, resulting in a pass completion percentage of 50.4%.
In other words, every second pass attempted by Sels has resulted in a loss of possession. So far, Sels has played all 15 games for Forest, which averages ~27 attempted passes per game or ~14 successful passes per game. Said differently, Sels turns over possession ~14 times a game or approximately every 7-minutes (not including stoppage time).
What is interesting is Sels has a 100% and 97% pass completion record for short and medium passes, respectively. However, his pass completion record is only 34.9% for long distance passes (30+ yards). Out of the 301 attempted long distance passes, only 105 have been completed successfully.
It should be noted that these numbers are quite consistent for goal keepers (and most players for that matter). Long distance passes, from either goal kicks, clearances, or attempting to pick out midfielders/forwards, more often than not, result in goalies turning over the possession.
Dango Ouattara
Second on the list is Dango Ouattara, who plays for Bournemouth. Dango’s pass completion percentage is 55.3%, with only 104 passes completed successfully out of 188 attempted passes. Dano has played a variety of possession, ranging from right and left winger, right and left back, as well as in midfield. When adding up all the minutes that Dango has played this season in the Premier League, it results in 5.8 full games (522 minutes divided by 90 minutes = 5.8 x 90’s).
What’s interesting, however, is that Ouattara’s completion percentage for short distances is only 69.1% (56 out of 81 attempted short passes were made successfully). Meaning, 30% of all passes Ouattara made, between 5 and 15 yards, were not completed.
Jørgen Strand Larsen
Jørgen Strand Larsen, for Wolves, is the only player in the top 10 list that has a greater pass completion percentage for long-distance passes than short or medium-distance passes. Albeit, Larsen has only attempted 5 long distance passes, and completed 4, but still, a solid percentage for passes that are 30+ yards.
Other Observations
While I won’t comment on each player individually, there are a few other observations to be made. Nottingham Forrest and Wolves are the two teams who both have two players on the top 10 list. At the time of Writing, Southampton are bottom of the league but don’t have a player included in the top 10. Three of the top 10 are goalies. There are no players from the top four teams, as of the time of writing (Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City). But as noted previously, Forest, currently sitting 5th, have two players.
Summary
That’s it for this week, the top 10 worst passers in the league (based on completion percentages) and only including those players who have played on average 30-minutes or more for each Premier League game. The intent isn’t to single out these players in this post. However, given how much effort is required to recover the ball from the opposition, it is important to show how often a ball is turned over and which players contribute more to those turnovers.
Stay tuned for future posts and send us a message if there is a specific topic you would like to see covered.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read these posts!
JC