Son Heung-min vs Sadio Mane – A Statistical Comparison
Tottenham Hotspur have been one of the most consistent teams in the Premier League but they have nothing to show for their efforts. They have one of the most exciting squads in the league but they do lack depth on the bench to get them through the tough times. The likes of Vincent Janssen and Moussa Sissoko failed to help the team but one player who has done well whenever called upon is versatile winger Son Heung-Min.
The South Korean international Son has been used 34 times all season and he picked up 14 goals and 6 assists to his name. But the Spurs have definitely missed a genuine winger like Liverpool’s Sadio Mane.
Mane, who was at the AFCON for a couple of months and missed the end of the season through injury, made just 27 appearances for the club but has actually played almost three hours more football than Son all season. He has 13 goals and 5 assists to his name.
The Senegalese winger was the talisman of his club from the start of the season, in what was his first campaign at Anfield. He ended up creating 43 chances, with 38 key passes to his name. He had a passing accuracy of 77% compared to 81% from Son. The Spurs man was also more creative, creating 44 chances and also picking up 38 key passes.
Mane, who was the second highest goal scorer for Liverpool last season, had a shot accuracy of 63%, compared to a lowly 56% from Son. He also had a better take-on success rate of 55.83% (45.19% for Son) and won 34.51% of his aerial duels compared to just 28.21% won by Son.
The 25-year old Liverpool winger was effective in a defensive sense as well, making 9 interceptions, and winning 47.35% of his total duels. The Spurs man won just 44.75% of his total duels, making just 7 interceptions all season.
The Senegalese also won almost double the number of fouls as Son. He won 55 free-kicks compared to just the 31 awarded for Son. As already mentioned, Mane was the first choice for Liverpool and Son, not so much for the Spurs. The likes of Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli were preferred over him regularly by Pochettino but these numbers show that he is more than capable of helping Spurs at the highest stage.
Do you think Son would be a better player than Mane if given regular game time?
Stats credit: Squawka.com