Liverpool’s previous and ongoing prime attacking midfield targets Nabil Fekir and Thomas Lemar are in regular transfer discussions. The Reds have been heavily linked with making a move for Fekir, for who Lyon are demanding £61m, while the £101m-rated Lemar is also reportedly on the radar of the Merseyside giants.
Incidentally, both players will take part in the upcoming World Cup for France. So, their performance in Russia will be under the scanner.
Fekir and Lemar play in similar positions. The Monaco man has more pace, which allows him to break the lines between defences, while Fekir is more of a ball-player who can take defenders on and pick out a decisive pass.
They both are very similar in terms of shooting at goal and have the ability to pick out the top corner. Stats-wise, the 24-year-old Fekir has a better eye for goal than 22-year-old Lemar.
Let us compare the stats of these two exciting talents and then try to pick out the best bet for Jurgen Klopp and his attacking Liverpool side.
Stats Comparison – Fekir vs Lemar
Fekir played 40 games for Olympique Lyon last season, netting 23 times and setting up 9 goals. On the other hand, Lemar scored 2 goals and provided 8 assists in 35 appearances for Monaco in the recently concluded campaign.
Fekir is known to be good on the ball and the numbers back that up. He has a pass success rate of 85.4% along with delivering 2 key passes per game. Lemar’s passing rate is slightly down at 83.8%, with a key pass average of 1.8 per game. There’s not much to choose between these two in terms of pass rate.
We all have seen Fekir’s dancing feet on the ball. He has a successful dribble rate of 3.2 per game. Concurrently, Lemar is a bit short on this, with 1.6 successful dribbles per game, almost half of his French counterpart.
Fekir can sometimes be careless with the ball at his feet, having an average of 2.2 unsuccessful touches per game. Despite being behind on the pass rate, Lemar has a better ball touch, having an average of 1.6 unsuccessful touches per game.
The shot conversion rate is where Fekir is superior, with 24 goals from 109 attempts, a success rate of 22.01%. Lemar has a paltry total of three goals this season in 49 attempts, a success rate of only 6.1%.
Verdict
Comparing stats can sometimes be misleading but collating Fekir and Lemar’s numbers has provided us with a clear indication. The Lyon attacker seems like a better deal for Liverpool if passing rate, goals and assists are taken into account. Hence, Klopp must actively pursue Fekir instead of Lemar if given a choice.
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