ANY Dream Team gaffer that claims they predicted Philip Billing’s (£2.9m) early season success is a liar.
Don’t get us wrong, the Denmark international is a very capable midfielder but considering he scored three goals in his first 77 Premier League appearances for Huddersfield and Bournemouth, he didn’t look like the most viable option prior to 2022/23.
His goal output for the Cherries increased in the Championship but it looked for all the world the south coast club would spend most of the new campaign in a relegation scrap, where returns for the likes of Billing would be few and far between.
However, the 26-year-old has played brilliantly so far this term and has been a key figure in Bournemouth’s recent uplift that has seen them rise into the top half.
Gary O’Neil’s side kept up their unbeaten streak with a 2-2 draw at Fulham on Saturday with Billing providing the assist for Dominic Solanke’s (£3.1m) opening goal.
More than that, he scooped the Star Man award at Craven Cottage to pocket ten points.
Incredibly, Billing has earned three Star Man awards in his last four games!
The 0.3%-owned midfielder came out on top in the match ratings against Leicester and Newcastle as well, two fixtures in which he scored.
Add in another goal against Nottingham Forest and it’s four goal involvements in Billing’s last 427 minutes of playing time.
This fruitful run has yielded 44 points, taking him to 46 overall, a tally only bettered by five other assets in his position.
In fact, the list of midfielders with fewer points at this stage includes: Martin Odegaard (£3m), James Maddison (£5.3m), Luis Diaz (£5.2m), Raheem Sterling (£4.8m) and Bernardo Silva (£4.4m).
The only midfielders who average more points-per-game in 2022/23 are Phil Foden (£5.9m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£7.5m) – (minimum three appearances).
There’s no doubt Billing is playing well for a team on the up but whether he’ll be able to maintain his healthy returns going forward is another matter.
Right now he averages just 0.6 shots-per-game in the top flight, it’s incredibly difficult to keep the goals flowing at that rate – for comparison, Maddison averages 3.2 shots-per-game.
But let’s not worry about that just yet, Billing deserves all the credit in the world of mixing it with the big boys after ten Game Weeks, especially without European fixture to bolster his schedule.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
