3.8 Tackles Per game: Is Rabiot More Important To Arsenal Than Coquelin?

Adrien Rabiot vs Coquelin

Arsenal’s requirement for a central midfielder is growing as the days go by. The need for someone to hold the Arsenal midfield is even more important due to the injuries to Coquelin and Wilshere while the likes of Arteta and Cazorla aren’t getting any younger, oh and they too are injured at the moment.

The desperation seems to hit high times for the Gunners but Arsene Wenger is frugal with his expenses and especially in the January transfer window, where most teams do not actually have a great time with their returns, Andrei Arshavin would be one example, though he did have some really good games for the Gunners during his spell.

One player who has been linked with a move away from his club has been Adrien Rabiot. The 20-year-old French midfielder has been one of the stars for PSG since breaking into the first team but he hasn’t cemented a place in the team due to the number of stars already present at the club.

Arsenal could well try to sign the talented midfielder but if Coquelin gets back to full fitness, would Rabiot actually be that good a signing since only one of them would regularly start for the Gunners? Using Squawka.com, the duo’s stats for this year’s league season is compared.

A French star in the making but which one?

Looking at the per 90-minute metrics for both players they seem to have the same pass completion rate in the heart of the midfield with 91% in their respective leagues. However, it is the PSG man who has a higher number of successful passes per 90 minutes with 74 while Coquelin comes in with 51.

While distributing the ball is one of the jobs for the midfielders, keeping the opposition in check is a more important one. When it comes to tackling, the duo are almost inseparable with Rabiot coming in with 3.8 tackles per 90 minutes while Arsenal’s Coquelin manages 3.1 tackles per 90 minutes.

Winning aerial battles would be another stat that is won by Rabiot as the 20-year-old wins more than 2/3rds of his battles in the air while Coquelin only managers to win 50% of his aerial duels. But the Arsenal midfielder does get the better of Rabiot when it comes to other contributions to the defensive side of the game.

The French star at Arsenal makes more than 3.2 interceptions per 90 minutes while Rabiot only makes 2.4 interceptions in the same time period. It is in clearances that the Arsenal star creates even more space between him and Rabiot with 1.3 clearances per 90 minutes while Rabiot makes 0.3 clearances per 90.

While Rabiot does get forward a bit more often than Coquelin, he seems to be a better tackler than the Arsenal midfielder. Coquelin for his part seems to be better at reading the opposition and taking the bite out of their attack. Arsenal might need to get some cover for their midfield and signing Rabiot would be a great deal for the future and the now but that would mean selling off a few players but Coquelin should not be one of the, he does have a great future at the club and maybe a bit of competition could work in his favour.