There has been no shortage of action over the first half of the 2023-24 Scottish Premiership season.
Celtic are eight points clear at the top of the table, but have played two games more than second-place Rangers.
Aberdeen have work to do if they are to achieve another third-place finish – they sit in eighth spot and are 14 points adrift of Hearts, who occupy third place but have played three games more than the Dons.
Ross County are in 11th spot, but only four points off seventh spot in a tightly congested bottom six.
But which players have been the star performers during the first part of the season?
Data compiled by football statistics company FBref provides an insight into the best players in the top flight – and there are a few surprises.
Safe hands
No goalkeeper has made more saves than St Johnstone’s Dimitar Mitov. The Bulgarian has made 74 saves so far this season – four more than his Ross County counterpart Ross Laidlaw.
St Mirren’s Zach Hemming has made 68 saves with Kilmarnock’s Will Dennis in fourth spot with 63.
Hibernian’s David Marshall is fifth with 56 saves, closely followed by Aberdeen’s Kelle Roos on 55.
Rangers’ Jack Butland leads the way with clean sheets with 12 so far this season.
Celtic’s Joe Hart and Hearts’ Zander Clark are on 10 so far, with Kilmarnock’s Dennis in fourth spot with eight shut-outs.
Top tackler
Owen Beck proved a great addition for Dundee during the first half of the season.
Unfortunately for the Dens Park side, the left-back was recalled by parent club Liverpool earlier this month.
The 21-year-old won the most tackles in the Premiership so far this season with 36 – one ahead of St Johnstone’s Daniel Phillips.
Motherwell’s Harry Paton, the former Ross County player, is third on 34 tackles won, with St Mirren’s Keanu Baccus in fourth spot on 30.
Two Aberdeen players are in the top five for interceptions this season.
Dons centre-half Richard Jensen has made 35 – more than any other player in the top flight so far.
Will Fish of Hibernian is in second place on 32, with St Mirren’s Richard Taylor (30) in third place.
Aberdeen’s Slobodan Rubezic is fourth with 29 interceptions, one ahead of Lewis Miller (Hibernian) and Luiyi de Lucas (Livingston).
Working the keeper
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland is this season’s top scorer with 13 goals from 21 appearances.
Unsurprisingly, the former Aberdeen and Dundee United player leads the way with shots on target.
The Scotland international has had 29 shots on target, six ahead of Rangers’ Cyriel Dessers and Celtic’s Matt O’Riley.
Hibernian’s Elie Youan is in fourth spot with 20 – one ahead of Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski and Celtic’s Daizen Maeda.
Winning free kicks for fun
Perhaps the most remarkable stat so far this season has been the ability of Motherwell’s Callum Slattery to win free-kicks.
The Well player has been fouled a whopping 63 times in 20 league appearances this season.
He is way ahead of the second most fouled player in the Premiership, which is Kilmarnock’s Daniel Armstrong, who has won 36 fouls.
Hibernian’s Lewis Miller is third on 35, with Livingston’s Jason Holt in fourth place on 34.
St Johnstone’s Daniel Phillips has conceded the most fouls this season.
The Trinidad and Tobago international has been penalised 41 times.
Motherwell’s Brodie Gilmore is second on the list with 31, with his team-mate Slattery, Ross County’s Jordan White and Kilmarnock’s Marley Watkins on 30.
The supersubs
Celtic’s Oh Hyeongyu and St Mirren’s Alex Grieve, who has joined Dundee United on loan, have been the most used substitutes in the Scottish Premiership.
Both players were brought on 16 times during the first part of the season.
Kilmarnock’s Rory McKenzie was next on 15 substitute appearances, with Oli Shaw (Motherwell) and Andrew Dallas (Kilmarnock) both coming on 14 times.
Ross County’s Alex Samuel was next, on 13 substitute appearances.
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