Stat Attack: Reading v Spurs

– Young Spurs midfielder Jake Livermore has been a bright point in an otherwise difficult start to the season for Spurs. Livermore, who earned his first senior call up for England this week, has covered more ground so far this season than any other Spurs player with 19.47 miles. That’s also the third highest total overall for a player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index

– Livermore put in his biggest shift in the game against West Brom with 7.09 miles. That makes him the only non Southampton player in the top 5 for distance covered by a player in an individual game

– Livermore’s team mates would do well to follow his example, however, as Spurs don’t feature in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s top ten for either overall distance covered as a squad or distance covered by a team in a single game

– Reading will need to be aware of the threat of Spurs winger Gareth Bale, who has delivered 12 crosses so far this season, the joint third highest in the Premier League

– Spurs striker Jermain Defoe featured for England this week, and has been carving out plenty of opportunities in front of goal. Defoe has had 15 attempts at goal this season, only Luis Suarez has had more with 16. Defoe has got ten of those shots on target, but has a return of just one Premier League goal

– Reading, meanwhile, have typified the work ethic seen by newly promoted teams in the Premier League. While the Royals have only played two games this season, they’ve averaged 63.42 miles per game. That’s second only to fellow newly promoted team Southampton who have averaged 65.06 miles per game

– Their performance against Stoke, where Reading covered 64.83 miles as a team, remains in the top five for overall distance covered in a game after three rounds of matches

– New signing Danny Guthrie has led the charge with 12.81 miles covered in two games so far this season

– Guthrie seems to have already earned the trust of his team mates, receiving the ball more often than any other Reading player so far this season with 87 receptions in his two games. That’s just ahead of fellow midfielder Mikele Leigertwood with 81 receptions

– New signing Pavel Pogrebnyak joined Reading after a sensational start to Premier League life with Fulham last season. He’s already opened his account for Reading, scoring once from four attempts at goal of which three were on target