Mesut Ozil: The stats that prove why the Arsenal playmaker is the best in Europe

And why you should definitely have the World Cup winner in your Fantasy Football team

Mesut Ozil - the best in Europe (OULALA)

There's a particular player that your fantasy football side cannot afford to be without - The Creator. The player that runs the show, who is involved in the majority of his side's attacking play.

If he is also the chief set-piece taker, heading the queue for free-kicks and corners and he plays for a side with a habit of scoring plenty of goals, you've pretty much identified a must-have, week in, week out.

The Independent have teamed up with daily fantasy football game www.oulala.com and together we have analysed the key stats behind why Arsenal's Mesut Ozil simply must be in your fantasy football team.

Oulala's extensive database of statistics, which comprises 70 different criteria sourced straight from Opta, is the perfect tool to identify how players across Europe's top league compare. Not only is Ozil head and shoulders above any other player in the Premier League in terms of creativity, he leads Europe too.

Ozil is the first player in Europe's top leagues to reach triple figures for chances created this season. He has made 105 goal scoring opportunities for Arsenal in 24 games. Incredibly, the 27-year-old has created a chance, on average, every 19.8 minutes. Ozil's closest challenger is Tottenham's Christian Eriksen who has created 28 chances fewer than the German (77).

Ozil in action against Manchester United (2015 Getty Images)

Focusing on assists, Ozil's tally of 17 is six more than any other player in Europe. Paris Saint-Germain's Ángel Di Maria sits second, having recorded 11 in Ligue 1 this season.

While Arsenal have been criticised for their finishing, most notably by Arsene Wenger following their 0-0 draw at home to Southampton at the beginning of February, sixteen per cent of the chances that Ozil has created have been converted into goals. Of the 10 players analysed, only Di Maria has a better chance to assist conversion rate, albeit narrowly, at 17 per cent.

Of Europe's most creative players, Ozil also ranks top for overall passing ability, recording a pass completion rate of 88 per cent. Napoli's Marek Hamšík sits second of the players highlighted, having completed 87 per cent of his passes in Serie A.

While a knee injury against Everton in the Capital One Cup at the end of January has ruled Kevin De Bruyne out of action for the foreseeable future, a midfield featuring Ozil, Eriksen and Dimitri Payet offers up a trio more than capable of guiding your fantasy football side through the final three months of the season, and hopefully, onto overall glory.

Stats supplied by daily fantasy football game www.oulala.com

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