Bournemouth departures, Noah Sadiki from Sunderland, Joe Rodon to Leeds and Kevin Schade feature in The Debrief | Football news

Welcome to The debriefinga Sky Sports column in which Adam Baté uses a mix of data and opinion to reflect on some of the key events from recent Premier League matches. This week:

• Bournemouth’s incredible fast starts illustrated
• More on Sunderland’s dynamic midfield duo
• Rodon’s unusual corner threat for Leeds
• Schade’s pace is unstoppable after Andrews’ advice

Bournemouth’s quick departures

It took Bournemouth 25 minutes to find the breakthrough in their 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Andoni Iraola’s side have actually taken the lead earlier than that in the majority of their nine Premier League matches so far this season.

It’s a remarkable statistic considering Premier League leaders Arsenal have not led after 30 minutes in any of their last eight matches in the competition. When it comes to getting a quick start to a match, it is the Cherries and not the Gunners who are second to none.

This reflects the intensity of their football under Iraola. Talk to Aerial sports about last season, he explained: “You have to play with your strength and that’s why it’s useful to have a young team with players who can play with a lot of energy, at a high pace.”

Perhaps that youthful exuberance explains some of their late goals, scoring in the 89th minute or later in each of their three games preceding the win over Forest. But the fact that Bournemouth are starting much quicker than their opponents is down to Iraola’s approach.

They cover by far the most distance at high intensity in the first five minutes, setting the tone by running 10 percent further than the next best team. It’s a feature that has become a trademark, making it a favorite among neutrals.

Sunderland’s Sadiki revelation

Granit It’s a kind of partnership.

This statistic has been used to push back against the notion that Sadiki is there to provide the legs needed to complement Xhaka’s talent, proof that the 33-year-old midfielder can still cover the pitch. However, it is also an insult to Sadiki to imply that he is a mere athlete.

Consider the comments made by Sunderland manager Régis Le Bris when Sadiki arrived from Union Saint-Gilloise this summer. “What stood out immediately was his composure with the ball, his ability to manage pace and the maturity in his decision-making.”

Genius IQ data shows that while Sadiki’s pass success rate is 87.58 percent, the expected pass success rate, taking into account everyone’s positioning on the pitch and the difficulty of the passes attempted, is 84.07 percent, or 3.51 percentage points lower.

Sadiki, 20, has indeed proven to be Xhaka’s ideal partner in midfield, a combination which has helped propel Sunderland to surprising heights. But if Xhaka has shown he can run, make no mistake, Sadiki has shown he can play too.

Rodon’s threat from the corners

Joe Rodon’s header for Leeds in their 2-1 win over West Ham was the ninth goal conceded from a corner by the Irons in the Premier League this season. No other team let in more than three. And there’s no excuse for not anticipating Rodon’s threat.

It was the ninth time the Welsh international centre-back had won the first touch from corners in the box so far this season. For context, the next Premier League player is five. He has become a real weapon in the opposing area.

Rodon scored at the same end of the pitch at Elland Road against Bournemouth earlier this season, much to the delight of boss Daniel Farke. “He adds a threat to the goal,” Farke said at the time. “I always complained about it. I had his back about it.”

Now, Rodon has his second goal of the campaign. Allied to his assured performances at the other end of the pitch, it has been a triumphant return to the Premier League for a player who failed to force his way into a regular place for Tottenham in his youth.

Farke recently described him as being “much more mature”, having developed considerably. “Much better than three years ago, he’s already proven he can do it.” And now Rodon has added that goal threat to his game as well.

Andrews predicts Schade’s goal

Perhaps you saw the clip from the summer of Keith Andrews discussing the chances that might be there for Kevin Schade when he played from the left and made that outside-in run like Liverpool did in Brentford’s 3-2 win on Saturday night.

“When you win on the opposite side to where you are, there are goals.” Andrews told Schade. “The right-back is there,” he added, pointing to the pitch. So it proved when Conor Bradley was caught trying to push and Schade got the better of Ibrahima Konate.

Once behind, what is certain is that it is not possible to catch up with the 23-year-old driver. Schade has a top speed of 37.44 km/h in the Premier League this season, making him the fastest man in the competition. Andrews believes there is still much to be done.

“Right from the start of pre-season I felt he was ready to take the next step in his journey to become a more important figure within the team,” he said after Schade’s goal against Chelsea last month. Now Liverpool are also feeling the strength of their unstoppable pace.