Whilst he’s been prolific at the attacking end of the pitch for Crystal Palace, Ismaila Sarr has also been doing his fair share of defensive work in recent weeks. Since nailing down a position in Oliver Glasner’s starting 11 at the end of October, the Senegalese forward has made 6 tackles in 8 Premier League starts.

3 of those tackles have come in his last 2 games and when facing the stronger teams, he seems to get stuck in more often, making at least 1 tackle against Brighton, Man City, Aston Villa and Tottenham.

Arsenal are 1 of the most tackled sides in the Premier League, drawing an average of 19.7 per game with 5 of their last 6 opponents in all competitions having made at least 21 tackles. This means there’ll be plenty of tackles for Palace to share around and with attacking midfielders against Arsenal having combined for 30 tackles in their last 8 games in all competitions, Sarr should be kept busy and we can expect him to add to his tally.

A more regular candidate for tackles, Sander Berge’s defensive displays have played a big part in getting Fulham up to 8th in the table. The Norwegian has averaged 2.76 tackles per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season and has had at least 2 tackles in 7 of his last 8 matches. Those games include totals of 4 against Brentford and 6 against Arsenal, demonstrating how key he is for the Cottagers in breaking down opponents’ attacks.

Southampton are a difficult proposition to analyse having sacked Russell Martin after Sunday’s 5-0 defeat to Spurs. There will likely be a move away from Martin’s possession-heavy tactics, however, this season they’ve seen plenty of action in the middle of the park.

27 different opposition central midfielders have made at least 2 tackles against Saints this season and only 3 deep lying midfielders have failed to make a tackle against them all season. With these numbers and Berge’s tenacious approach, we can bank on him getting 2 tackles again.

Having had a week off due to suspension last week, Yves Bissouma will be back in the Spurs midfield to face table-toppers Liverpool on Sunday. The combative Mali international has averaged 3.04 tackles per 90 in the Premier League this season including making 10 tackles in his last 2 starts. Spurs are missing Rodrigo Bentancur who himself averages 3.18 tackles per 90 and so Bissouma will have more defensive responsibility than usual.

Liverpool are only drawing 16.7 tackles per game but most of those have taken place in central midfield. Across their last 12 matches in all competitions, opposition central midfielders have combined for a massive 69 tackles between them with 11 of those players making 3 or more.

In the clashes between these sides last season, Bissouma made 3 and 4 tackles and having also committed 6 fouls and been booked in both matches, he should be keen to get stuck in again.