Deadly Diego tops Premier League goals contribution table in 2016

While clean sheets might be worth their weight in gold and penalty saves are always seen as a welcome bonus, Fantasy Premier League managers know full well that goals and assists are the bread and butter by which the winner will be determined in the majority of contests.

Chelsea’s winning sequence came to an abrupt end on Wednesday evening, when they went down 2-0 to Spurs at White Hart Lane, meaning that striker Diego Costa started the New Year with a blank. However, the controversial striker can look back at 2016 with glee, having topped the Premier League chart for the most goals and assists combined in the calendar year.

The Spanish international hit the back of the net 21 times, while chipping in with 10 assists in the process as illustrated in the Oulala infographic below.

What about Ibra?

Zlatan Ibrahimović is not included in the list since he played the first part of the year in the French Ligue 1, a competition that is widely recognised as being somewhat inferior to its English counterpart.

However, judging by his numbers since joining Manchester United for the start of the 2016/17 English Premier League campaign, the Swedish striker would certainly be mixing it at the top, having scored 13 times and assisted 3 times already.

Alexis Sánchez currently leads the way on 20 (13 goals and 7 assists) while Diego Costa is topping the scoring charts with 14 goals as well as having a respectable 5 assists to his credit.

The veteran Swede is leading the way for total number of shots, though and with Manchester United now seemingly clicking into top gear, who would bet against Ibra finishing the season with the best combined figures?

Goals and assists are what fantasy football managers crave – make sure you stack your line-ups with the right ingredients!