Bellerin (Arsenal) vs Valencia (Manchester United)
As we continue to look at players who have been immense for their clubs this season, we often end up comparing a young player to a rather experienced one. Hector Bellerin and Antonio Valencia might not seem much of a comparison on paper as Valencia has played way more games than the young Bellerin, but they both have had to deal with various issues this season.
Bellerin has been thrusted into the spotlight and has played more games that he would have imagined for Arsenal while Valencia has had to deal with playing in a different role under Louis Van Gaal than he did under David Moyes and Alex Ferguson. Here we compare the two players and find out just who has had a better season for their club.
Bellerin vs. Valencia: What do the stats say?
While Bellerin might be younger than Valencia he has played in just half of the games in the league than the Ecuadorian, Valencia has played 24 Premier League games this season while Bellerin has only featured in 12. To compare the two, we would be using Squawka stats and only look at their performance stats from average in games as that would give a better representation of just what each has provided to their clubs.
Valencia starts off with a bang by claiming the stat of winning most tackles between the pair, the Manchester United wing back wins an average of 2.42 tackles per game while Bellerin for Arsenal wins around 1.83 tackles per game. Bellerin does show that he is good enough to play in the Premier League as he wins more aerial duels than Valencia, the Arsenal defender wins almost double the number of aerial duels per game as he averages 1.33 aerial duels won per game while Valencia averages only 0.62 aerial duel wins per game.
Bellerin also seems livelier to cut out the opposition as he averages 2.25 interceptions per game while Valencia only manages 1.58 interceptions per game for Manchester United. However, when it comes to passing ability, it seems the crafty and more experienced United star takes over from Bellerin.
Valencia provides more forward passes per game than Bellerin as he averages 23.29 forward passes per game while Bellerin only manages 17.33, Valencia also provides more goal scoring chances as he creates around 0.7 chances per game compared to 0.5 from Bellerin.
Comparing the stats provided, it might be hard to ascertain just who has had a better season, Bellerin in his first proper year in first team football or Valencia who has had to adjust to a new role, however if we look at the defensive aspect of the stats, it just might swing in favour of Bellerin while Valencia owns the attacking options.
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