With Serie A away on its traditional Winter Break, fans of Italian football are reduced to searching for snippets of information on transfer rumours and training camps as the league builds up to its return this coming weekend. In an attempt to fill the void left by the absence of Calcio (which almost led to some of us watching a Premier League game over Christmas) WhoScored.com takes a look at some of the surprising leaders in various statistical categories at this point in the season. Obviously the biggest shock may well be Atalanta's Germán Denis being the highest goalscorer and it is certainly more unexpected than a certain Udinese striker leading the league in offsides (again!), but we've already looked at that one so here are five more quirks we hope you'll find interesting.
Key Passes
Defined as a pass that leads to a goal scoring opportunity, this category removes the small matter of the recipient actually converting the chance and sees the leagues top uninjured assist man, Milan's Alberto Aquilani with 6, fall to a lowly 26th with just 1.5 per game. Leading the way is his team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic (who also tops the accurate through balls stat) with 43 at a rate of 3.3 per game, closely followed by Cagliari's Andrea Cossu on 2.9. That the pair have just two assists between them highlights the profligacy of the strikers around them. Yes Robinho, we're looking at you!
Shots
Two weeks ago we took a look at the most accurate strikers in Serie A and praised those maximising the chances that were created for them and, of the leagues top scorers, the most notable absence was perhaps Antonio Di Natale. Once again among the leaders, the Udinese Captain has taken the second highest number of shots in Serie A, which is expected given the way his team's attack is built around his superb ability. That the man ahead of him is Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetić is something of a surprise however, given the perception of him as more of a creator than a finisher. With Alberto Gilardino moving on to Genoa that number, currently at 5 per game, may well increase in the second half of the season.
Dribbles
We all love to see them, a player with the skill to pass an opponent with the ball has always been revered among football fans and it will come as no surprise that Jovetić, Gastón Ramírez and Ezequiel Lavezzi are among the top five exponents this term. The fact that Parma's Jonathan Biabiany has completed twenty more than each of those men is hugely unexpected. Sent to Sampdoria as part of the Giampaolo Pazzini deal, the former Inter winger is averaging 3.7 successful dribbles per game while his former club’s best thus far is Ricardo Álvarez with a full two efforts per game less than the 23 year old Frenchman.
Tackles
As impressive as it was to see Lucio lead the way in terms of interceptions recently, when it comes to tackling it is a statistic dominated by midfield players. Juve's Arturo Vidal (4th place) plays much further up pitch than league leader Përparim Hetemaj of Chievo (5.5 per game) or Bologna's Gaby Mudingayi (3rd) who occupy traditional holding roles. Sandwiched among them however, in second place with 5.2 per game, is Valon Behrami of Fiorentina, not the first player to come to mind when thinking of Serie A's best stoppers.
Pass Completion
Whilst a cursory glance at the players making the most passes this season throws up the usual names - the rejuvenated Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi lead the way - in terms of the highest accuracy we find a number of players not normally associated with quality passing. Milan's Thiago Silva, who is fifth in terms of volume, tops the category with an impressive 90.8% though his comfort on the ball has often been noted, but close behind him, registering 89.7% and 89.5% respectively, are two names that are less expected. Inter captain Javier Zanetti sits third but, indicative of Luis Enrique's approach, Gabriel Heinze in second is one of three Roma players in the leagues top ten, where he is joined by team-mates Nicolas Burdisso and De Rossi.
