Stat attack! The Premier League’s top six all have a red-hot forward line as they aim for the title… but who are the most prolific? How are Liverpool benefiting from their attacking aces?

• Liverpool have had more shots and made more chances than an other side
• Chelsea have improved considerably since changing their system
• Pedro has been one of the most prolific players in the top six this season
• Manchester United have struggled to get their preferred unit to gel
• Mesut Ozil has played more passes to Alexis Sanchez than any other player in the Arsenal squad in the Premier League this season
• Tottenham have struggled for goals and chances as their title hopes falter 

Much has been made of Jurgen Klopp's high-flying red arrows, and the stats back up the fact that Liverpool's front three are one of the Premier League's eminent attacking forces.

Between them Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane have managed more shots than any of the other front threes in the top six. The trio have hit 101 shots at goal since the season began.

They have also created 75 chances between them, the most out of any forward line among the Premier League's top six sides. It speaks for the dynamic style Klopp demands from his players. They have also contributed 10 assists as a unit, more than any of the others leading the top flight.

Liverpool have, by reputation and by analysis, the most impressive attacking unit in the league

Manchester City have also impressed but they have not been prolific in front of goal

Pedro has been one of the top six's most impressive attacking talents in recent weeks

Chelsea's attackers have improved considerably since they switched to a 3-4-3 system

While they have each bagged five goals, with Mane managing six, they are not the top flight's most prolific trio. Their 101 shots have only brought 16 goals, two less than the top ranked side.

That honour belongs to Chelsea, whose front three have hit a staggering 18 goals between them. The figure of 18 goals is even more incredible when the numbers are crunched further. Chelsea are also the only side whose front three have all converted over 20 per cent of their chances.

The trio of Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Pedro have only been a unit for the last four games. In the case of Pedro, the first game he started under manager Antonio Conte came against Leicester. 

The former Barcelona man has managed to score twice himself and provide four assists in that time, a staggering contribution that belies the rest of his time at Stamford Bridge. Having managed another assist in another tie prior to his inclusion from the start, and with only 409 minutes on the pitch in the Premier League, that means he is averaging a goal or an assist every 58.4 minutes.

LIVERPOOL'S FRONT THREE THIS SEASON

PL 16/17	Coutinho, Philippe	Roberto Firmino	Mane, Sadio
Team	Liverpool	Liverpool	Liverpool	Total (where applicable)
Games Played	11	10	10	-
Minutes Played	843	890	868	2601
Goals	5	5	6	16
Total Shots (inc. blocks)	46	31	24	101
Shots, on Target	17	15	10	42
Assists	5	3	2	10
Chances Created (inc. assists)	30	29	16	75
Passes	562	483	397	1442
Passes in Final Third	338	258	215	811

CHELSEA'S FRONT THREE THIS SEASON

PL 16/17	Hazard, Eden	Diego Costa	Pedro
Team	Chelsea	Chelsea	Chelsea	Total (where applicable)
Games Played	11	11	10	-
Minutes Played	918	967	409	2294
Goals	7	9	2	18
Total Shots (inc. blocks)	34	37	10	81
Shots, on Target	17	19	2	38
Assists	1	3	5	9
Chances Created (inc. assists)	20	16	11	47
Passes	550	307	158	1015
Passes in Final Third	346	155	73	574

Manchester United's ageing front three have struggled for goals and shots this season

 In part, that explains why Jose Mourinho's side are off the pace for a title challenge

Wayne Rooney has only converted 6.25 per cent of his strikes at goal this season in the league

He even manages to outrank both Hazard and Costa for assists - they have managed one and three respectively in the Premier League - with both players having played at least double the number of minutes he has.

Manchester United, who are sixth in the Premier League, tend to rank lowest for the key metrics among the front threes in which each player has played more than nine games. 

Their attacking force of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata have been outscored - having hit just nine - out-assisted - with five between them - and bettered in terms of chance creation. The ageing trio have managed to craft just 46 opportunities this campaign.

They are also poor finishers in general this season. Mata, surprisingly, is the most effective in front of goal. Even he has only converted 11.76 per cent of his chances. Ibrahimovic has put away 10.17 per cent, while Rooney has struck home 6.25 per cent. No other team in the top six does not have a single player in their front three who has converted over 15 per cent of his shots.

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City trio of Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero come closest to matching Liverpool's shot record in the Premier League this season, having attempted 100 strikes in the Premier League.

MANCHESTER CITY'S FRONT THREE THIS SEASON

PL 16/17	De Bruyne, Kevin	Sterling, Raheem	Agüero, Sergio
Team	Manchester City	Manchester City	Manchester City	Total (where applicable)
Games Played	10	10	9	-
Minutes Played	760	854	744	2358
Goals	2	4	8	14
Total Shots (inc. blocks)	33	23	44	100
Shots, on Target	10	11	19	40
Assists	6	2	0	8
Chances Created (inc. assists)	31	11	11	53
Passes	430	342	222	994
Passes in Final Third	255	164	124	543

MANCHESTER UNITED'S FRONT THREE THIS SEASON

PL 16/17	Ibrahimovic, Zlatan	Rooney, Wayne	Mata, Juan
Team	Manchester United	Manchester United	Manchester United	Total (where applicable)
Games Played	11	10	9	-
Minutes Played	990	596	603	2189
Goals	6	1	2	9
Total Shots (inc. blocks)	59	16	17	92
Shots, on Target	22	6	11	39
Assists	0	4	1	5
Chances Created (inc. assists)	15	15	16	46
Passes	438	330	415	1183
Passes in Final Third	199	121	175	495

City have almost matched Liverpoo's shot tally but have not been as effective in terms of goals

 

There is no player that Mesut Ozil has found more times this season than Alexis Sanchez (right)

They have also not managed to be the most clinical three in front of goal. With 14 goals they rank joint third alongside Arsenal among the top six.

It has been obvious this season that Arsenal's front three of Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil work well together, especially compared to other attacking units Arsene Wenger has selected over recent seasons.

They seem to work well together, and there might be an innate reason behind that. This season, Ozil has found Sanchez with 101 passes. The German may be a passing metronome, but he has not played more than 74 passes to any other player in Arsenal's squad. That demonstrates the on-pitch relationship between himself and Sanchez.

Walcott has also been considerably more clinical than his reputation would merit. He has managed five goals and two assists in 864 minutes. While his record is less impressive than Pedro's, it is still of note - he has made a telling contribution to a goal every 123 minutes.

ARSENAL'S FRONT THREE THIS SEASON 

PL 16/17	Sánchez, Alexis	Ozil, Mesut	Walcott, Theo
Team	Arsenal	Arsenal	Arsenal	Total (where applicable)
Games Played	11	10	10	-
Minutes Played	909	800	864	2573
Goals	6	3	5	14
Total Shots (inc. blocks)	32	18	33	83
Shots, on Target	14	6	17	37
Assists	3	1	2	6
Chances Created (inc. assists)	24	27	10	61
Passes	430	596	256	1282
Passes in Final Third	273	365	142	780

Theo Walcott has been more effective in front of goal this season, in contrast to his reputation

Walcott has managed five goals and two assists in just 864 minutes of Premier League action

Tottenham are the conundrum of the top six. Admittedly, they have not had their main striker - Harry Kane - available to them for a large chunk of the season after he suffered an injury.

However, no team in the top six has derived fewer goals from their front three than Spurs. That much has been obvious on the pitch in recent weeks, with Mauricio Pochettino's side clearly struggling for attacking verve as they attempt to follow up last season's title challenge.

Between them, Christian Eriksen, Kane, and Son Heung-Min have only managed seven goals. Of the players in front threes in the top six, no player barring Eriksen has failed to score once this campaign.

Their chance creation has also nearly been doubled by Premier League leaders Liverpool, with Spurs's trio only managing 49 compared to the Reds' 75.

It seems as though when it comes to topping the table, having a trio you can rely on at the top end of the pitch makes a real difference. Liverpool are finding that out for themselves this season. 

TOTTENHAM'S FRONT THREE THIS SEASON

PL 16/17	Eriksen, Christian	Son Heung-Min	Kane, Harry
Team	Tottenham Hotspur	Tottenham Hotspur	Tottenham Hotspur	Total (where applicable)
Games Played	10	8	6	-
Minutes Played	864	618	495	1977
Goals	0	4	3	7
Total Shots (inc. blocks)	35	22	15	72
Shots, on Target	12	8	6	26
Assists	3	2	1	6
Chances Created (inc. assists)	25	16	8	49
Passes	508	238	120	866
Passes in Final Third	243	138	73	454

Christian Eriksen (left) is the only player in a front three in the top six who is yet to score