Player Focus: Records Surpassed this Weekend

After a somewhat tedious international break for club football fans, the full compliment of action returned this weekend, with a number of standout statistics. With it being so early into the new season there are more opportunities to record new campaign high figures, with a selection of players managing various accolades over the past few days.

While numerous individuals shone this weekend only a handful were able to pick up European high figures for the season thus far, though some were admittedly more desirable than others. We start with the keepers, and a selection of number ones caught the eye this weekend with their shot stopping antics.

In the Premier League, West Ham's Jussi Jaaskelainen trumped a previous high of 9 saves from the game against Fulham during the trip to Norwich, with 10 saves in total. However, the European high that he recorded this weekend came because 9 of those saves came from shots inside the penalty area, with no other stopper in Europe producing more so far this season.

On the peninsula, Atalanta's Andrea Consigli continued his fine individual start to the season with another superb display as his side kept a clean sheet at San Siro against a disappointing Milan. The Italian made 8 saves in total, though 6 of them came from shots outside the box as Atalanta limited their hosts' opportunities. That tally of saving shots from distance was again another European high for a single match this season.

Our final record-breaking keeper is Sochaux's Simon Pouplin, who replaced regular number one Pierrick Cros to great effect to help earn his side their first win and clean sheet of the season. The 27-year old's leading figure came having made 5 diving saves in the 1-0 win over 10-man Saint Etienne and ensured the French outfit were lifted off of the bottom of Ligue 1.

The real loser this week in terms of unwanted records was perhaps Chievo's veteran midfielder Luciano, whose pass accuracy of just 51% against Lazio alludes to his double inclusion here. Such an accuracy is nothing short of abysmal for an outfielder, let alone a midfielder, and it comes as no surprise that his total losses of possession (41) and inaccurate pass (23) statistics both rank as the worst in any single game this season over the top 5 leagues.

Elsewhere in Serie A a rare appearance for Juve's Martin Caceres saw the Uruguayan try to cross his way into Conti's permanent plans. The 25-year old right wing-back on the day attempted a remarkable 17 crosses from open play against Genoa, though with just 3 accurate (17.6%) many of his deliveries were somewhat wasteful.

Staying in Italy, a man who you could certainly not say was wasteful with his crossing was Pescara's Antonio Balzano. Playing in an advanced role on the right Balzano attempted 11 deliveries, but with 6 accurate excluding corners his service to the front man was superb, giving him a new European high tally in a single game, finding a man 54.5% of the time in comparison to Caceres.

Granada forward Floro Flores may have frustrated his manager and fans alike this weekend; playing as he does on the shoulder of the last defender, the Italian was caught offside 7 times against Deportivo. Despite registering this somewhat undesirable European high for a match this season Flores had the last laugh, netting the equaliser in the closing stages to earn the home side a point.

Meanwhile, in Espanyol, Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz was doing his best to prove that the club could cope with any potential loss of Llorente by throwing his wait around in similar fashion. The Spaniard's 10 aerial duels won was the most in the top 5 leagues this weekend, though it was in another aerial statistic where he picked up a seasonal high of 4 headed attempts at goal, one of which accounted for a goal as he picked up a brace and man of the match performance.

Last but certainly not least, another striker in equally clinical form caught the eye in the Premier League, where the far from shot-shy Jermain Defoe had a field day at the Madjeski Stadium. Netting twice in a comfortable 3-1 victory, the England international fired off a new European high for this season of 9 shots from open play in a single game, and in this form will keep Adebayor out of the side for some time yet.