Mousa Dembele vs N Golo Kante: A statistical comparison

A Statistical Comparison Of Mousa Dembele And N’Golo Kante

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea are currently 4 points off Tottenham Hotspur at 2nd place in the points table. Both teams have some star players who have been in superb form this season and there has been a direct competition between players of both the clubs at various positions. In the midfield, Chelsea have seen N’Golo Kante go about his job seamlessly, while Mousa Dembele from Tottenham has also been effective. But how do the two players compare? Here is the statistical comparison of both the midfielders:

Both players play in a deeper role, yet have a goal and an assist each to their names this season. Dembele has played in a slightly advanced role, while Kante has been used as the first line of midfield, in front of the defence. So it does not come as a surprise that Dembele has created close to one chance a game while Kante has created less than 0.6 chances a game. The Belgian midfielder has also made close to 0.9 key passes per game compared to the 0.55 from Kante.

Kante has made almost 400 passes more than Dembele this season, but the Spurs man has been more efficient with his passes, at a success rate of 92% – which is one of the best in the league for a player in his position. However, Kante’s passing is commendable as well, at 89% success rate. The Tottenham man has also been an effective dribbler, completing close to 84% of his dribbles while Kante has also been breathtaking, completing close to 74% of his dribbles.

The attacking part of the game is dominated by Dembele. But when it comes to the dirty work, Kante is not even within reach. Kante has won 72 tackles this season – the most by a Chelsea player, and has made close to 2.4 successful tackles a game. Dembele has just 54 to his name. The Belgian midfielder has won more ariel duels (49%) and total duels (57%) than Kante (40%; 32% respectively) but the Frenchman has been a bigger threat defensively in and around his box.

He has made 74 interceptions, more than half of them coming in dangerous areas, compared to just 22 from Dembele. The Chelsea man has also made 44 clearances from the box, while Dembele is not used to this position and has made just 25 such clearances.

Dembele is a deep lying playmaker who loves to dictate the game while Kante, with his industry and energy, controls the midfield for his side. Both players have different roles at their clubs but have been effective in their own methods.

A draw would be a fair result.