Midway through last season we helped introduce Celtic fans to a new football metric called on-ball value (OBV).

StatsBomb designed OBV to what they call “objectively and quantitatively measure the value of each even on the pitch".

Since its introduction our data provider has polished their sophisticated process even further but, to strip it down to its core, they do this by assessing the change in probability of a team scoring and conceding as a direct result of an on-field event.

For instance this could include Celtic's Sead Haksabanovic playing a through ball to Kyogo Furuhashi or Greg Taylor opting to shoot when Jota was open for a pass in an ideal position.

There are of course plenty of metrics out there that give a hint into a player’s involvement – assists, xG Assisted, xGBuildup and xGChain remain useful tools in their own right.

OBV assigns a value to every action as well as identifying those that were more important in the creation of a chance. It rewards those players for taking those actions as opposed to simply acknowledging that they were involved.

This naturally takes into account that some players take more risks than others. OBV, then, is in essence a way to credit that while ensuring where on the pitch events happen and how much pressure a footballer is under are considered in the final number.

StatsBomb offer fuller breakdowns on their website but, for now, we will move on to our updated Premiership lists for each of the main five outfield OBV categories as well as listing the top-five Celts for all of them too…

Overall OBV

In the last update Sead Haksabanovic led the way with a remarkable 0.81 overall OBV - a mark he has maintained while still accumulating enough minutes to qualify.

Liel Abada - a regular feature in these updates regardless of the perception surrounding his consistency of performance - has moved up a position to second while Jota moves up two to make it an all-Celtic podium. Stephen Welsh made the top 10 last time but fails to meet the minutes threshold on this occasion.

There are five Rangers players in the top 10 with the most notable arguably Fashion Sakala. Second behind Haksabanovic last time out, he has dropped to 10th. 

Impressively, Aziz Behich of Dundee United stays eighth despite a slight drop in rating. St Mirren's Ryan Strain is the only other non-Glasgow entrant, replacing Kilmarnock winger Danny Armstrong.

Joining the gold, silver and bronze medallists in our Celtic-only top five are Anthony Ralston and Callum McGregor.

Passing OBV

In every update it feels prudent to note that for passing OBV it is not enough to simply play in a possession-dominant team.

Nonetheless the top spots are populated by Celtic and Rangers players. James Tavernier retains his place at the summit while Haksabanovic stays second and Borna Barisic third. Jota moves up one again here to fourth while Ralston goes from eighth to fifth and Abada sneaks in at 10th.

In general this category tends to favour full-backs - last term they made up seven of the top 10 while earlier this season it was six. This time round full-backs make up only five of the 10.

Limiting the data to Celtic players and the four in the top 10 are joined by Alexandro Bernabei, who was also in the club-specific top five in the last update too.

Dribble & Carry OBV

Naturally, the dribble and carry on-ball value list is dominated by wingers.

While Sakala still tops the lot as he did in the last update, intriguingly his value has almost halved and he no longer runs away with it.

He is followed closely by Ibrox team-mate Ryan Kent before Abada, Haksabanovic and Jota feature in their third straight top 10.

Elsewhere, Luis 'Duk' Lopes of Aberdeen retains a place in the top five while Hearts winger Barrie McKay stays in the 10.

Jonah Ayunga of St Mirren, Rangers youngster Malik Tillman and Hibs stalwart Martin Boyle replace Joe Efford (Motherwell), Connor McLennan (St Johnstone) and Tom Lawrence (Rangers).

Joining Abada, Haksabanovic and Jota - who we might as well now just call 'the usual suspects' - in the Celtic-specific top five are winger Daizen Maeda and central midfielder Callum McGregor.

Shooting OBV

The first category with neither a Celtic nor a Rangers player at the summit, shooting OBV top-dog status goes to Hibs striker Kevin Nisbet.

Impressively for the Scotland international, his league-leading total is higher than Abada's was when he topped this category in the last update.

Haksabanovic - yes, again - is in third as the top Celt while Kyogo Furuhashi makes an appearance in sixth with Abada sliding to seventh.

Four Rangers players are in the 10 while Motherwell striker Kevin van Veen and Steven Bradley of Livingston round the whole thing off.

Restricting the data to Celtic players only ensures - rather intriguingly - that full-backs Alistair Johnston and Bernabei join Haksabanovic, Kyogo and Abada.

Defensive action OBV

Perhaps understandably, no Celtic player was even close to touching the league-wide top 10 for defensive action OBV last season and this continues here in a category seemingly heavily influenced by team style.

Hearts duo Jorge Grant and Stephen Kingsley make up two of the top three with Dundee United's Ian Harkes sandwiched between them.

Elsewhere the top 10 features players from St Johnstone, Ross County and Motherwell with one Rangers player in defensive midfielder Ryan Jack.

The Celtic-only list sees Aaron Mooy well clear at the top - and indeed actually fairly close to the top 10 figures - with Ralston, Maeda, Jota and Kyogo also in there in what is perhaps a reflection of Ange Postecoglou's defend-from-the-front philosophy.

All data correct as of March 21 2023