Odegaard - who threatens De Bruyne's position

"De Bruyne has 98 assists in the Premier League in eight brilliant seasons at Man City, but is his crown as the best midfielder in the league threatened by Odegaard?", Sky Sports asked. .

With the left footing phase to seal a 3-0 victory over Fulham on March 12, Odegaard reached 10 goals in a league season for the first time in his career, in addition to six assists in the tournament.

Meanwhile, De Bruyne's influence showed signs of decline when he sat out the 4-2 victory over Tottenham at the Etihad on January 20, then substituted and came on in the second half of the defeat at Tottenham Stadium a few weeks later. . The Belgian midfielder was a substitute for the whole win against Bournemouth 4-1 on February 25 and only played 11 minutes in the last 11 minutes of the 0-1 win at Crystal Palace over the weekend.

On that basis, former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp praised Odegaard for surpassing De Bruyne to become the number one public midfielder in the Premier League. "Normally you would say De Bruyne is the best midfielder, not only in the Premier League but also in the world," the British player commented on Sky Sports after Arsenal's win over Fulham. "But something is wrong, De Bruyne is not playing as much as he would like. Odegaard is playing with the style of a great player: time stops when he has the ball, calmness."

Redknapp also pointed out that Odegaard has scored four or five goals as he did against Fulham, with a left hand, showing his role as captain and leader of Arsenal. Another detail that makes Redknapp appreciate midfielder Arsenal is that he is very active when he is not in possession of the ball.

Statistics partly prove Redknapp's point, when Odegaard was pressured by opponents 510 times when controlling the ball in the Premier League this season. In which, 243 times Odegaard was pressed in a third of the home field, 231 times in the midfield and 36 times in the opponent's third of the field - which proves the Arsenal captain's excellent ability to hold the ball when under pressure. .

This figure of De Bruyne is 336, with 179 times being pressed in defense, 136 times in midfield and 21 times in the third of the opponent's court. Of course, the Belgian midfielder has the ability to create space to break through, but Odegaard shows the ability to operate in tight spaces with rare composure.

Odegaard and De Bruyne have both contributed to 16 goals in the Premier League this season - the best number of midfielders in the league. Specifically, Odegaard scored 10 goals, more than double De Bruyne's 4. In return, the conductor of Man City provided 12 assists - the best number in the tournament and twice as many as Odegaard. De Bruyne also had only 1,944 minutes on the field, compared to Odegaard's 2,226.

This is also reflected in the goals (xG) and expected assists (xA). In terms of midfielders at the tournament, De Bruyne leads in xA stats with 11.43, while Odegaard leads in xG stats with 7.92, slightly more than 2022 World Cup champion Alexis Mac Allister (7 (7). ,65).

De Bruyne also leads in average drag per game - measuring the number of meters a player dribbles towards the opponent's goal. This parameter of the Belgian midfielder is 106.65m - equal to many of the top full-backs in the Premier League, and far ahead of Odegaard with 42.41m.

On Sky Sports' Super Sunday program, former striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink commented: "Odegaard is a different player from De Bruyne, but he always has a solution. When he gets into a tight space, Odegaard finds the right solution. And he's very calm. He doesn't create as many assists as De Bruyne because he's not that type of player. But the other things that Odegaard does are very gentle and so excellent. It's gratifying to watch Odegaard play."

The statistics prove this statement of the former Chelsea striker, when Odegaard often works in tight spaces and travels less than half the distance of De Bruyne in terms of drag. But the Arsenal captain is very strong in the ability to control under pressure.

The heat map shows that De Bruyne is usually active on the right wing, often working in conjunction with a right-sided centre-back, right-back and right-winger, but sometimes also switching to the left. The 31-year-old also actively presses with the ability to contest the width of the opponent's field.

Odegaard is different, despite the similarities. He is more active in the midfield, although he also tends to drift to the right, and therefore frequently passes to defensive midfielders and central midfielders, alongside right-back and right-winger. The Arsenal midfielder is also more defensive in the center of the right, in the opposition half - where often leads to successful challenges to help Arsenal get on the ball quickly.

The graphic below details the above statistic, as Odegaard makes almost twice as many passes in the center third of the opponent's half and also has a superior pass accuracy in passing accuracy compared to the conductor by Man City.

Regarding the ability to press, Sky Sports highly appreciated Odegaard's effectiveness with Arsenal's pressing style, when the Norwegian midfielder put pressure on the opponent 36% more than De Bruyne from the beginning of the season. Specifically, Odegaard had more total pressures with 536 times, compared to 394 times for the Belgian midfielder.

Why does Odegaard score more than twice as much as De Bruyne, but far behind his opponent in terms of assists? The graphic below provides a simple answer. Accordingly, De Bruyne almost only shoots from outside the box, while Odegaard shoots from inside and outside the penalty area with almost equal numbers from the beginning of the season.

And the numbers below show the difference in finishing styles of these two midfielders, as De Bruyne's average shot is 23m from goal, while Odegaard's finish is made 5m closer.

The duo's powerful finishing ability can surprise fans. Odegaard's shots averaged 48.8 mph, not far behind De Bruyne's 48.9 mph. Similarly, the Arsenal midfielder's finishes hit a top speed of 58.6 mph, compared to De Bruyne's 59.9.

In terms of chances, De Bruyne gets the ball into the box more - most of it coming from the midfielder's preferred wide corners and central area, just outside the box. In contrast, Odegaard often creates space from the central, lower areas with skillful passes to find teammates.

The advanced stats below shed even more light on the passing styles of the two players, with De Bruyne often making longer passes at a quicker pace, while ignoring close opponents. twice that of Odegaard.

But, again, the Arsenal midfielder has outstanding passing accuracy, albeit under greater pressure and is close to De Bruyne in terms of average completion.

Before the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Leipzig, coach Pep Guardiola summarized the qualities of his students: "De Bruyne has an incredible ability to create, score and pass the ball better than anyone else. But I told him a lot to do well the simple principles. Players will play better if they do that, such as avoiding losing the ball, moving dynamically and finding space. These things, players automatically play better."

In fact, the assist rate of 0.56 goals over 90 minutes in the Premier League this season is the third best figure of De Bruyne's career. But Odegaard - nearly eight years younger than the Man City midfielder - is gradually closing the gap with De Bruyne as the top midfielder in the league.

At this moment, Odegaard and De Bruyne are bound by the number of times they have contributed to the goal when Arsenal and Man City are competing fiercely for the championship. Their position can only be decided when the season closes at the end of May.