Free-kick Expert Mata Up For The Job

Juan Mata has been identified as the deadliest free-kick taker in the last 14 years of the Barclays Premier League but admits he faces tough competition for the dead-ball responsibilities at Manchester United.

The little Spaniard is one of a number of Reds stars who are real threats from outside the box and his record speaks for itself. PA Sport's statistics reveal he has scored five times from only 28 attempts, securing a conversion rate of 17.9 per cent, well clear of his nearest challenger, Sebastian Larsson.

The Sunderland midfielder struck a beauty at Tottenham last weekend and is in second spot ahead of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and ex-United star David Beckham, of those players who have scored five or more free-kicks since the start of the 2001/02 season.

Mata's last successful set-piece came in the win against Stoke City in December and we asked him about his free-kick expertise.

"The manager decides [who takes them] before each match," he revealed to ManUtd.com recently. "We have very good takers. We have Wazza [Wayne Rooney]. Ander [Herrera] can take them, then there is Angel [Di Maria] and Marcos Rojo says he can take them too, although I don't know about that yet!

"Robin [van Persie] as well, so we have some good options. We work on set-pieces two or three times a week. We practise free-kicks [direct shots] and the ones like we scored [against Stoke]. It’s important to have good headers of the ball and also important to have players who can take free-kicks, and that’s what I try to do."