Comparison: Rob Holding Vs Axel Tuanzebe
Arsenal’s victory over Manchester United has opened up the top-4 race but more than that, it has introduced two of the finest youngsters to the highest level in the Premier League. The match between two of the best sides in England is always of the highest intensity but one player from each side, who are at the start of their careers, impressed many.
Arsenal’s summer purchase Rob Holding was a part of the three-man defence that held Manchester United clean while the young Axel Tuanzebe, played out what was just his second senior game for the club this season, starting at right-back. Both players were immensely impressive and will be in the plans of their managers for the future. Here is a statistical comparison of the efforts of both the players in the crunch clash that concluded on Sunday.
Holding vs Tuanzebe
The Arsenal man was a man mountain at the back and was hardly fazed by the trickery of the Manchester United front line. He made three crunching, successful tackles – a couple of them early in the game to set the tone for the game. He was mostly up against Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial and kept his cool to help his side to a clean sheet.
He made four further clearances, a couple of them from inside the box, helping Arsenal keep the goal safe. On the other side, Tuanzebe was at it in a similar fashion, keeping the likes of Alexis Sanchez quiet on the wing. The Chilean is one of the toughest players to mark but the United youngster did a superb job.
Axel made a total of 5 tackles, a couple of them being goal saving ones. He made 3 interceptions and 3 clearances, making just one foul throughout the game. Holding for Arsenal was also as disciplined and he made 4 clearances, which went a long way in helping his side to a victory.
Both players took care of the ball pretty well. Holding had a passing accuracy of around 85%, picking his man 5 times out of the 7 long balls he attempted. Tuanzebe, playing on the wing, had an accuracy of just 81%, making just one successful long pass, delivering no crosses at all.
The Manchester United teenager certainly impressed but with the Gunners walking away with all three points, he has very little to show for his tremendous shift. Holding, on the other hand, showed great strength and concentration and went on to help his side to a victory, standing as the better of the two.
