TOTTENHAM vs Arsenal is always one of the most eagerly-anticipated fixtures of the Premier League calendar… and Saturday will be no different.
As the teams line up at Wembley for the lunch-time kick-off, all eyes will be on prolific Spurs man Harry Kane and and Gunners new-boy Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
With a wealth of attacking talent on the pitch, it would be easy to fall into that trap too.
But in reality, the North London derby will be won and lost in midfield.
Going into the game, we take a look at the two key battles set to be on show, courtesy of data from EA Sports…
DELE ALLI vs AARON RAMSEY
WELSH midfielder Ramsey was the star in Arsenal’s last game as he eclipsed debutants Auba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to score a hat-trick in the 5-1 drubbing of Everton.
The sublime trio took his season goals tally to six – one ahead of Alli, who’s struggled to find the net with as much consistency as last season in 2017-18.
That is in spite of the England international taking 13 MORE shots than Ramsey – for a paltry shot accuracy of 19.3 per cent, compared to the Welshman’s sky-high 45.5 per cent.
Ramsey even boasts a better shots to goal ratio, converting 13.6 per cent of his attempts to Alli’s 8.8 per cent.
While the Arsenal ace has had his shooting boots on this term, the Spurs playmaker has created well over twice as many chances, at 49 to Ramsey’s 20.
However, the Gunners star boasts a far superior passing percentage at 85.8 per cent to Alli’s 78.1 per cent.
And don’t even start on the dribbling success, with Ramsey completing an outrageous 80 per cent of his runs… to Alli’s meagre 38.9 per cent.
Through one battle and it’s fair to say it’s 1-0 to Arsenal…
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CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN vs MESUT OZIL
IN what will truly be dubbed the battle of the creative maestros, Eriksen will be hoping to one-up Ozil at Wembley this weekend.
And when it comes to his shooting stats, that’s exactly what he’s done scoring seven times to the Arsenal ace’s four in 2017-18.
On top of that, great Dane Eriksen has take 62 shots – to Ozil’s 32 – and boasts a higher shooting accuracy than the German (41.9 per cent to 34.4 per cent).
However, the Gunners star – who recently committed his long-term future to the Emirates side – does come out on top, marginally, in terms of shots to goal ratio.
Naturally the “assist king” comes out on top in the creative stakes, with seven helpers to Eriksen’s six.
Ozil also boasts a better record in chances created (70 vs 63), passing success (87.3 per cent vs 81.9 per cent ) and even dribbling success (71 per cent vs 53.3 per cent).
Once again, it appears Arsenal have the upper-hand in the second of two key midfield battles.
The only question now is: Can their hard work in the middle of the park be backed up by their defenders… and all that striking talent.
*Data Courtesy of EA SPORTS, the Lead Partner of the Premier League
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