The Premier League bigwigs will always lure the talented players in other “smaller” sides to their sides, and it was no different during the last summer transfer window. As expected and as the norm is, some of the best players from last season went through an upgrade in club during the off-season.
London sides Chelsea, and Tottenham recorded major coups in the recruitments of 2 of the best defensive midfielders from last season N’golo Kante and Victor Wanyama respectively.
The former helped Leicester City to an unlikely title win in his first EPL season having arrived from Ligue 1 side Caen at the beginning of the campaign. His exploits in the deep midfield zone saw him notch the highest tackles, interceptions, and almost every defensive stats there are. Kante’s fine form earned him a national team call-up, and Chelsea promptly beat the other top sides competing for his signature by activating his release clause.
Wanyama charted a different path, and his disciplinary shortcomings threatened to almost ruin his achievements for Ronald Koeman-led Southampton. However, the Kenyan national side skipper played a huge role in helping the Saints finish in 6th place at the end of the 2015-16 campaign and 7th in the season before. That earned him a deserved move to White Hart Lane, and he has, just like his fellow midfield anchorman at the other side of the city become a mainstay in his new club’s midfield.
Both have featured in all 7 league games so far but which of these 2 greats has had a better season? What better way to do that than to compare their respective numbers.
Defensive stats
Wanyama’s height (1.88metres) makes him an aerial powerhouse, and on an average, he has won 40% of his duels. And that’s just 4% better than Kante’s despite him standing at 1.69meters.
Both have been perfect in their defensive duties as they are yet to commit any defensive error(s) of any kind so far. In terms of their defensive actions, they tie one another at an average of 4 defensive actions per game.
While none of them has come close to Diego Costa in their number of bookings, given their role and position, they have inevitably gotten into the referee’s book. Unsurprisingly, Wanyama leads the way with 2 yellow cards while Kante has gotten only 1.
VERDICT: Based on these numbers and how their respective contributions to their clubs have helped their league standings, Wanyama has been better.
But does he surpass Kante’s attacking contributions?
Attacking stats
In all his 630 minutes of action, the Chelsea star has unsurprisingly scored no goal nor assisted one. However, he has created 4 goalscoring chances. Same as Wanyama, except that the Tottenham powerhouse has registered a goal this season.
And his shot accuracy has been way better than Kante’s. Wanyama has 43% shot accuracy, and that makes light work of the Frenchman’s 13%.
However, Kante has completed more passes – 407. And 71% of these have been forward passes, with their average length at 18meters and an average accuracy of 91%. Wanyama, on the other hand, has completed 291 passes this season, of which 69% were forward passes. The average length for these passes is 19meters, with an average accuracy of 88%.
VERDICT: Definitely a close call between the 2, but with both clubs are at a total number of goals at 12, Wanyama also has the attacking bragging rights having registered a goal.
31 more games to go!!!