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Player reportPremier League 2025/26

Pau Torres

Aston Villa
Ball-playing centre-back CB
8.0 progressive passes/90 · 0.8 line-breaking/90
centre-backball-playing centre-backbuild-upline-breaking
1797
minutes
21 apps
1172
passes
89% completed
89%
pass completion
1172 passes
160
progressive passes
8.0/90
126
line-breaking passes
6.3/90
235
defensive actions
11.8/90
33
tackles + interceptions
64% tackle win
63
clearances
3.2/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
in the first line of build-up — mostly in the middle third (50% of his 1172 passes)
89% completion · 1172× in 21/21 matches
↓
CARRY OUT
step into midfield to commit a presser
14 carries · 28× in 11/21 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
8.0 prog/90 · 126× in 20/21 matches
↓
SWITCH PLAY
diagonal to the far side
cross-field balls · 36× in 17/21 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
5.4/90 · 107× in 20/21 matches
Signature: receive in the first line → break the midfield line vertically → switch or progress. Press him early and shut the vertical lane to force the safe sideways ball.
18

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
56
passes / match
11.8
def actions / 90
13–105
pass range (matches)
63
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (13 at the low end, 105 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

10

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

403 tracked carries (20.2/90, 144 progressive, 4275m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

4%7%9%4%2%14%25%19%13%1%
progressivelateral/short% of his 403 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 8m, longest 45m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
41Outside → Inside
264Inside → Inside
46Outside → Outside
52Inside → Outside
First (114)Second (110)Third (96)Fourth (83)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

22
tackle duels
14
won
8
beaten · 36%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 77%
OUTSIDE 23%
Tackle-duel location — 17 inside · 5 outside
Right Wing
0 · 0%
Right Half-Space
4 · 18%
Central
3 · 14%
Left Half-Space
10 · 45%
Left Wing
5 · 23%
Vision AI beaten in 8 of 22 tackle duels (36% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

Dribbles (1v1s)

For a centre-back the carry is a build-up weapon — does he step out through the middle, or keep it simple? Every carry classified by channel. Season rate: 0.70 dribbles attempted /90.

brighter band = more dribbles · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 57%
OUTSIDE 43%
Dribble location — 8 inside · 6 outside
Right Wing
0 · 0%
Right Half-Space
0 · 0%
Central
2 · 14%
Left Half-Space
6 · 43%
Left Wing
6 · 43%
Vision AI 57% of his carries are central — he steps out through the middle to draw a presser before releasing.
02

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

18%
vertical passes
131×
3%
switches
25×
42%
carries
316×
37%
short circulation
276×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW2100%2RHS1429%436%536%5C2348%1825%5952%12210%235%12LHS5661%78%4839%21923%12929%163LW2240%11%322%4931%7045%101FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the left half-space in the middle third → the left half-space in the middle third — 9 progressive passes (10% of his progression) at 0.042 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 50% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 11% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

9% of his passes are cross-field switches — he changes the point of attack often.

Quality behind the volume: 16 line-breaking passes and 107 final-third entries, 19.4 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
0%0%0%0%0%0%8%8%9%5%1%0%10%19%18%18%4%0%
completedincomplete1172 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
1172
passes
89%
completed
132
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 89% season completion rate.
03

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

160
progressive · 8.0/90
107
final-third entries · 5.4/90
2
box entries · 0.10/90
28
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
13

How does he create chances?

1 key passes (0.05/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
100%
chance creation (1)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
06

Where does he become vulnerable?

139 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

15
attacking third (cheap)
68
middle third
56
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 11% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 3.50 danger-index/90 · 0.502 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
05

What is his passing profile?

1172
passes attempted
52%
mostly forward
50%
mostly medium
Direction
Forward
606 · 52%
Sideways
375 · 32%
Backward
191 · 16%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
451 · 43%
Medium
523 · 50%
Long (>30m)
66 · 6%
07

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

1.431.131.110.860.700.66
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
1.43
Left Half-Space Mid third → Left Wing Att third
14 passes
1.13
Left Half-Space Mid third → Left Half-Space Mid third
14 passes
1.11
Left Wing Mid third → Left Wing Att third
11 passes
0.86
Left Half-Space Def third → Left Half-Space Mid third
14 passes
0.70
Left Half-Space Mid third → Left Wing Mid third
12 passes
0.66
Left Half-Space Mid third → Left Half-Space Att third
4 passes
08

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Pau Torres gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
28%
Primary
Left Half-Space, Middle third
21%
Secondary
Left Half-Space, Defensive third
12%
Third
Central, Defensive third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
09

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Pau Torres actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
11722121220743110088102621313434311
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

0%0%0%0%0%0%8%8%9%5%1%0%10%19%18%18%4%0%
own goal left, attacking →
11

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

1Key pass
8Cross
2Cutback
160Progressive
126Long ball
36Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
124Outside → Inside
610Inside → Inside
102Outside → Outside
204Inside → Outside
By direction
606Forward
191Backward
375Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
04

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he switches it out from the left hs to the left wing, advancing it forward in the middle third — 14 passes worth 1.43 xT.
Where do his chances come from?
Of 1 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he plays inside from the left wing toward the right hs, advancing it forward in the middle third — 1 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the central in the final third: 40% of his 10 touches there are lost (4 times).
—0 touches · too few25%2/8 lost4%6/144 lost7%18/243 lost21%27/130 lost—2 touches · too few22%2/9 lost14%15/105 lost7%25/334 lost17%23/134 lost—0 touches · too few—3 touches · too few40%4/10 lost9%3/35 lost33%5/15 lostRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
12

Crosses & Cutbacks

8 crosses (0.40/90, 1 completed) and 2 cutbacks (0.10/90, 1 completed) — two separate wide-delivery patterns into the box, each its own map with a completed/failed filter. Neither is a tagged event, so both are inferred from pass geometry — the intended end point of a failed attempt is still real data (an interception doesn’t erase where the ball was aimed): a cross is a pass aimed into the box starting from a wide channel; a cutback starts almost on the byline but is squared back rather than driven forward, aimed centrally around the box. The completed-cross count was checked against this platform’s own real match-level cross totals and lands within about 1 cross of the true count.

Crosses — close-up on the final third
Cutbacks — close-up on the final third
completedfailed (dashed)close-up on the box — attacking ↑ toward goal
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

14

How & where does he defend?

235 defensive actions across the season (11.8/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
22
tackles · 64% won
11
interceptions · 0.6/90
80
recoveries · 4.0/90
63
clearances · 3.2/90
2
blocks
29
avg action height
14
won high (att 3rd)
73
middle third
148
own third
Vision AI A deep-defending defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 113 proactive ball-wins (5.7/90), tackle success 64%. He defends deep, protecting his box — a last-line stopper.
15

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Pau Torres still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~7-7 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 4.7, 7m)
86%
7.1
7.0
1.13
Mid press (PPDA 6.2, 7m)
90%
8.3
6.5
1.46
Low press (PPDA 9.0, 7m)
91%
8.7
5.1
1.14
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

16

Impact on the Team

Aston Villa's output per match with Pau Torres (21 matches) versus without him (17 matches). What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (21)
WITHOUT (17)
Δ
goals against /match
1.10
1.53
-0.43
points /match
1.90
1.47
+0.43
goals for /match
1.52
1.41
+0.11
xG for /match
1.43
0.56
+0.87
17

His Share of the Team

Of everything Aston Villa produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Pau Torres specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
clearances
7%
76 / 1081
final-third entries
7%
131 / 1995
threat added by passing (xT)
5%
27.9 / 519.9
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

19

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 513 centre-backs in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Ball-playing centre-back70%Stopper centre-back31%
Why Ball-playing centre-back 70%: a weighted blend of progression 77 (weight 25%) + build-up 63 (weight 30%) + retention 62 (weight 30%) + press resistance 57 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
carrying
Strong
transition, progression, creativity
Average
receiving zones, final-third threat, build-up, dribbling, retention, press resistance, line-breaking, territory (wide vs central), passing directness
Weak
ball-winning, crossing, box threat, defensive aggression, through-balls
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Carrying
93
Transition ~proxy
78
Progression
77
Creativity
75
Receiving zones
66
Final-third threat
63
Build-up
63
Dribbling
62
Retention
62
Press resistance ~proxy
57
Line-breaking
49
Territory (wide vs central)
48
Passing directness
44
Ball-winning
36
Crossing
29
Box threat
28
Defensive aggression
20
Through-balls ~proxy
18
20

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 192 cm / 81 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Alessandro Circati Parma Calcio 1913 · Serie A 25/26 · 190 cm / 85 kg
75%
Driven by: creativity (19%), defensive aggression (18%), crossing (11%). Different mechanism — Torres more via carrying, transition; Circati more via line-breaking.
Edmond Tapsoba Leverkusen · Bundesliga · 192 cm / 84 kg
72%
Driven by: transition (22%), carrying (21%), progression (11%). Different mechanism — Tapsoba more via box threat, line-breaking.
Luca Jaquez Stuttgart · Bundesliga · 187 cm / 80 kg
71%
Driven by: carrying (18%), defensive aggression (13%), box threat (10%). Different mechanism — Torres more via creativity, passing directness; Jaquez more via crossing, retention.
Marin Pongracic Fiorentina · Serie A · 193 cm / 95 kg
70%
Driven by: carrying (25%), transition (19%), defensive aggression (18%). Different mechanism — Torres more via creativity, territory (wide vs central); Pongracic more via through-balls, dribbling.
Renato Veiga Villarreal · La Liga · 188 cm / 88 kg
70%
Driven by: defensive aggression (28%), carrying (13%), transition (13%). Different mechanism — Torres more via dribbling, carrying; Veiga more via passing directness, through-balls.
Oliver Provstgaard Lazio · Serie A · 194 cm / 70 kg
69%
Driven by: carrying (18%), transition (15%), creativity (15%). Different mechanism — Torres more via territory (wide vs central), dribbling; Provstgaard more via passing directness, crossing.
21

Summary

Pau Torres is a ball-playing centre-back: 89% pass completion, 126 line-breaking passes and 8.0 progressive passes /90. A build-and-progress centre-back whose value is in beating the first line with the pass, not in raw defensive volume. [Aerial duels, marking, line-height and 1v1 recovery need aerial-event + tracking data, absent here.]

Based on 21 matches (1797 minutes) this season — a reliable read. He profiles as a ball-playing centre-back — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is press resistance — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall ball-playing centre-back profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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