Coming through the academy system at Fulham, Matt O'Riley joined MK Dons in January 2021 after training with the League One outfit for six months prior to that. 

In 23 appearances at the end of last season, O'Riley netted three goals and provided two assists, however, he certainly upped it a gear at the start of this campaign.

During the first half of the season with the Dons, the exciting midfielder chipped in with seven goals and five assists in 26 League One outings.

The 21-year-old's continued rise caught the eye of Celtic running into the January transfer window, with the Scottish giants securing the signing of the midfielder midway through the month.

 

 

Enjoying a positive start to life in Scotland, O'Riley has found the back of the net once and has two assists to his name in the Scottish Premiership and has been called up to represent Denmark's U21s during this international break.

Here, using Wyscout, we look to see if the numbers back up the performances on the eye...

Attacking analysis 

Perhaps having fewer responsibilities when it comes to going forward now, due to the abundance of attacking talent that Celtic possess, it is clear to see the O'Riley has fewer final third involvements at Celtic than when at MK Dons.

This can be displayed by his expected goals figures in recent weeks compared to the latter stages of his time with the Dons.

However, one thing that goes against the previous point is the number of touches he has had in the penalty area in recent weeks at Celtic, with O'Riley averaging 3.38 touches in the penalty area since arriving north of the border, compared to 1.72 at the promotion-chasing League One club.

Defensive and passing assessment 

Interestingly, O'Riley has won 50% + of his defensive duels in six of the last eight matches at Celtic, proving to be just as valuable going forward as when his side are not in possession.

O'Riley has also made 33 interceptions in 12 games for his new side thus far, in which he has started eight games.

Possessing excellent numbers when it comes to his passing, O'Riley has possessed a pass accuracy percentage of over 75% in all of his games for Celtic.

In his last three games, he has successfully completed 13 passes from an attempted 15 into the final third, proving to be brave in possession, and more often than not, accurate.