Bournemouth of England midfielder, Philip Chinedu Billing has surprisingly popped up just a spot behind Leicester City of England midfielder, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi on the data base of the best ball interceptors plying their trade in the English Premier League, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although nothing much was heard about the Nigerian-born Norway international back in his father’s country, Billing turned out to be the silent achiever, as he placed joint-second to Ndidi on the cards of players with most interceptions this season in the EPL.
This is according to figures released by Fbref, which put Ndidi top with 65 intercepted passes in the English top-flight before the season was put on hold by coronavirus, with the former Racing Genk of Belgium star placing just two ahead of Billing and his teammate at The Cherries, Diego Rico, who both have 63 interceptions each.
While Ndidi is top interceptor of opponents’ passes, Billing is rated ahead of West Ham United’s Declan Rice with 62 and Sheffield United’s Chris Basham on 58, who all complete the top five, but only Bournemouth left-back Rico has played fewer games than the Super Eagles’ star, after he missed six games due to a knee injury and only returned to full fitness before the forced halt.
As the season gets back into full steam next week Wednesday, all eyes will again be on Ndidi, who is fourth in executed tackles with 85 and third in successful contests won with 55, while his teammate at Leicester, Ricardo Pereira leads in tackles and Rice is the top star in tackles won.
