Three Socceroos in Opta Index Hyundai A-League Team of the Season
Socceroos Jamie Maclaren, Rhyan Grant and Andrew Redmayne have been named in the Opta Index Hyundai A-League Team of the Regular Season.
Opta have crunched the data and cast their eye over the numbers to come up with their top 11, based on the regular season’s hard numbers.
The team is in a 4-4-2 formation, with the player with highest index score in each position getting the nod in this star-studded side.
Premiers Sydney FC dominate with four players in the team, while a certain Western United FC star comes in with the highest Opta Index for the campaign.
Cast your eye over the side below and find out the stars of the 2019/20 Season, according to stats gurus Opta Data.
PREVIEW: Elimination Final 1 - Wellington Phoenix v Perth Glory
PREVIEW: Elimination Final 2 - Brisbane Roar v Western United FC
Goalkeeper
Andrew Redmayne (Sydney FC) - 77.7
The Sky Blues conceded the fewest goals of any side, with keeper Andrew Redmayne a major reason why.
The Socceroos gloveman finished the regular season with a 78% save percentage, the highest of any goalkeeper to play more than one game.
Redmayne also made 82 total saves and prevented 3.6 goals according to his Expected Goals on Target Against figure.
Defenders
Rhyan Grant (Sydney FC) - 76.1
Another outstanding campaign from the Socceroos’ first-choice right-back!
Grant has amazing engines which allow him to get up and down the pitch, as his numbers suggest.
He made 58 open play crosses for the season, as well as making 44 clearances and creating 18 scoring chances, with four assists.
Alex Wilkinson (Sydney FC) - 76.2
He may be 36 but ‘Wilko’ is showing no signs of slowing down.
The Sky Blues skipper made 110 clearances, the most of any Sydney FC player and the fourth most overall.
He also blocked 26 shots, participated in six clean sheets and finished with a passing accuracy of 93% from his 1,269 passes (the highest accuracy of any player to make 150+ passes).
Alex Grant (Perth Glory) - 74.6
Often underrated, Grant was again a model of consistency for Glory.
He was a part of a defence that kept a clean sheet eight times, more than any other outfield player.
Grant also blocked 12 shots and made 108 clearances across his 23 regular season games.
Liberato Cacace (Wellington Phoenix) - 82.8
It’s hard to believe the left-back is still just 19 years of age considering his impact on the competition.
Cacace ( with 106) was one of only three players to make 100+ dribbles throughout the regular season.
He also made 55 clearances, created 30 scoring chances and made 55 tackles - the second-most of any Phoenix player.
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Midfielders
Neil Kilkenny (Perth Glory) - 81.5
The experienced Kilkenny is the man that often sets the tempo for Glory and he enjoyed another outstanding season in the middle of the park.
No player won possession more times in the final third than Kilkenny (24), while he also created 57 scoring chances.
Kilkenny was also getting it done on the scoreboard, providing five assists and scoring three goals.
Milos Ninkovic (Sydney FC) - 79.6
No surprise to see the Serbian star in another Team of the Season!
Ninkovic was crucial to Sydney FC’s success, creating 38 scoring chances from open play, more than any other Sky Blue.
He also chipped in with an impressive five goals from his 30 shots.
Jay O’Shea (Brisbane Roar) - 78.2
The Irishman enjoyed a brilliant debut season in the Hyundai A-League and is a worthy entrant into the Team of the Season.
O'Shea created the second-most scoring chances (79) of any player, including six assists.
He also showed excellent distribution, with his 266 passes into the box were more than any other player.
Diego Castro (Perth Glory) - 77.4
It’s probably no surprise Glory’s results have dipped since the competition’s resumption given the absence of Castro.
The Spaniard created 2.7 scoring chances per game this season, the third-most of any player to play at least 10 games.
Castro’s seven assists were also the joint-second most of any player behind Newcastle Jets’ Dimitri Petratos (9).
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Strikers
Besart Berisha (Western United FC) - 83.6
The Hyundai A-League’s greatest-ever scorer was top of the pops according to Opta, recording the highest index score for the season.
Berisha scored 19 goals, created 21 scoring chances and won 103 duels.
His shot conversion rate of 35% was the second-highest of any player (min. 5 shots on target).
Jamie Maclaren (Melbourne City) - 81.9
Not only did Maclaren pick up the Golden Boot for the campaign but he’s made the Team of the Season as well.
The City hitman made more total shots (91) and scored more goals (22) than any other player.
In fact, only twice in Hyundai A-League history has any player scored more goals in a regular season than Maclaren has this campaign.