Saana Tuomala

Saana Tuomala is a talented central attacking midfielder (CAM) for Ilves in the Kansallinen Liiga, Finland's top women's football league. At 23, Saana has already made a significant mark in her role, showcasing her playmaking abilities across 18 league appearances this season. Despite her young age, Saana's deep understanding of the game is evident in her skills on the pitch, especially in setting up attacking plays and strategically distributing the ball. This makes her a crucial element in Ilves' tactical setup, particularly when it comes to controlling the tempo and facilitating offensive opportunities.

While Saana's goal-scoring record stands at 0.12 goals per game, and she has yet to register an assist this season, her influence is far from limited to direct goal contributions. Her expected goals (xG) per game value of 0.08 highlights her capability to find herself in promising positions, even if she's not the one putting the ball into the net. More telling of her playmaker abilities are her progressive metrics: with an average progressive distance of 69.24 meters per game when carrying the ball and 266.71 meters when passing, Saana frequently advances her team into attacking territories. Her understanding of positioning also manifests defensively, where she averages 2.46 interceptions and a remarkable 8.23 challenges per game, showcasing her readiness to regain possession and intelligent positioning despite a current challenge success rate of 0%. Saana's playmaking rank of 2.5 reflects her significant contribution to game dynamics, acting as the connector between defense and attack, and underlines her potential to grow further in her professional career.