Ander Herrera vs N’Golo Kante – Statistical Comparison
French international N’Golo Kante has now won the Premier League twice in two years and having won the PFA player of the year award in the recently concluded season, his influence on the Chelsea side and their journey to the title is irreplaceable. However, there are sections of fans, the Red Devils mostly, who believe that their Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera has been more effective in that role.
Playing for a more stubborn defence, Kante did not have to do much of the dirty work as Herrera had to in front of a fragile Manchester United defence. And not surprisingly, he has done it a lot better than Kante, according to the numbers.
With a goal and 6 assists to his name, the United man was better in a creative sense, compared to Kante’s 1 goal and 1 assist. Both players had similar passing accuracies at around 89%, but Herrera threaded 31 key passes, creating 37 chances for his side. Kante has created just 22 chances, picking up 21 key passes all season.
Though Kante won 82 tackles, compared to just 64 from Herrera, the United man won 60% of his aerial duels and 46% of his total duels, suffering 45 fouls all season. Kante won just 31% of his aerial duels, showing his weakness there. He also won just 40% of his total duels, suffering just 15 fouls, even with such a small frame.
With 4 blocks, 45 clearances and 83 interceptions all season, Kante had a stellar time in front of the back three for Chelsea. But Herrera made 86 interceptions, 7 blocks, and 62 clearances all campaign.
Though he picked up a red card in a crucial game, Herrera was shown just 6 yellow cards all season, compared to the 9 shown to Kante. The United man achieved these stats by making just 31 appearances for the club this season, compared to Kante’s 35 games. He played a whole 11 hours of football less than the French midfielder so it does not come as a surprise that he was named the Player of the year for Manchester United this campaign.
The Red Devils are already readying a contract extension for the Spanish midfielder this summer with reports suggesting that he is a target for Catalan giants Barcelona. Having secured Champions League football at Old Trafford, Herrera has no reason to quit Old Trafford and this will mean that Kante and Ander will be engaged in a similar battle next season as well. We will be there to find out who would be better.
Stats credit: Squawka.com
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