The Everton and Tottenham Hotspur youngsters are both competing for a starting role.
With Euro 2016 on the horizon, England have a number of selection issues to resolve before their first game in France.
After a strong Premier League campaign, there are a number of players in Roy Hodgson’s squad currently all vying for a starting place.
England’s Dele Alli
One of the areas where he has a major decision to make is in midfield, where the England boss has several options available to him.
He will likely be forced to choose between youngsters Dele Alli and Ross Barkley for a starting role, so which one deserves a starting place?
We decided to take a look at how they compared across this past season.
| Team | Goals | Goal Assist | Total Scoring Attempts per Game | Key Passes per Game | Accurate Passes pe Game | Successful Final Third Passes per Game | Won Contests per Game | Touches per Game | Appearances | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dele Alli | Tottenham | 10 | 9 | 2.24 | 1.67 | 24.91 | 10.3 | 0.91 | 53.48 | 33 |
| Ross Barkley | Everton | 8 | 8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 40.76 | 14.26 | 3.05 | 67.55 | 38 |
And surprisingly it was the Everton man who came out on top in five of the eight areas that we looked at.
On a per game basis, he registered more accurate passes, more successful passes in the final third and more won contests per game than his rival.
He was also more heavily involved in games, managing more touches per game than Alli across this past season. The Toffees star also posted more shots per game that the Spurs man.
However, it wasn’t al bad for Alli as he registered more goals and assists, as well as more key passes per game than Barkley
Nonetheless, that is a surprising result and it will be interesting to see who Hodgson chooses for a starting role at Euro 2016.
England’s Ross Barkley in action with Netherlands’ Memphis Depay
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