In the Premier League, the real Vardy Party happens when Leicester City faces the "Big 6."
Leicester's affable striker Jamie Vardy has made a name for himself as a player who rose through the ranks of English soccer to thrive at the pinnacle of the sport. Having only made his Premier League debut at 27 years old, Vardy's story is one of perseverance and determination.
In the time since, Vardy has scored 111 goals in the top flight, played for England in the Euros and World Cup, and led Leicester to the unlikeliest of Premier League titles. To say it's been a meteoric rise for the Sheffield-born attacker would be an understatement, but Vardy's resume becomes even more impressive when considering how prolific he's been against the biggest clubs in the Premier League.
The Big 6 consists of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham — they are the richest and, collectively, the most successful group of teams in the Premier League. It's generally one or many of the Big 6 challenging for top spot year after year, and their big budgets allow for them to purchase many of the world's best players — both on the attacking and defensive sides of the ball.
Yet Vardy has been wildly and consistently successful against the Big 6 during his time in England's top flight. With Leicester once again leading the league and gearing up for a Sunday showdown with defending champion Liverpool, let's look at the numbers behind Vardy's goal-scoring exploits vs. the big dogs of the Premier League:
7
Vardy has scored seven or more goals against each of Arsenal, City and Liverpool. That's more than he's scored against any other Premier League club.
5
Of particular concern to Liverpool ahead of Sunday's match, Vardy is the only player in league history to score in five straight games against the Reds. He did so during a stretch from February 2016 and December 2017, racking up seven goals from those five matches.
38
Vardy's career total of 38 goals against Big 6 opposition since his Premier League debut on Aug. 31, 2014, is the highest by any player in that span. The next-best is City's Sergio Aguero, who has 30.
Perhaps most impressive about this stat is that Vardy's the only player in the top nine of this category to never have suited up for a Big 6 club.
28
An efficient striker against all opposition, Vardy's effectiveness against the Big 6 is summed up by a league-record 28 percent scoring rate. That means that Vardy finds the back of the net more than once for every four shots he takes against the likes of City shot-stopper Ederson, Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Spurs' French international netminder Hugo Lloris.
The second most efficient striker versus the Big 6 is former Brighton, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace man Glen Murray, whose 25 percent scoring rate came from 97 more shots than Vardy has taken thus far.
34
Always one for a big occasion, Vardy's 38 career goals against the Big 6 accounts for 34 percent of his total goal tally in the Premier League. Now that's a Vardy Party!