Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur: How key men Xhaka and Wanyama compare

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Arsenal host fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates in the North London derby.

Sunday afternoon sees arguably the game of the weekend as Arsenal host Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby.

Both teams have had strong starts to the campaign, with the Gunners currently second in the table and Spurs three points behind them in fifth.

An interesting clash will be in the centre of the park, where Granit Xhaka and Victor Wanyama will likely clash.

The two defensive midfielders moved to their clubs in the summer transfer window and have made solid starts to life in London.

But who has enjoyed the better start to the campaign? We decided to take a look at the stats.

As it turns out it is Wanyama, who came out on top in five of the eight areas we analysed.

So far this season he has won more tackles per game, 2.2 compared to 1.4 and posted more ball recoveries per game 6.1 compared 5.8.

Xhaka, though, has won more interceptions on a per game basis, with his score of 1.7 beating Wanyama’s tally of one.

Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka

The Switzerland midfielder has also been the better passer, posting more accurate passes per game although they are level for passing accuracy.

Surprisingly Wanyama has been better going forward, registering more key passes per game as well as more shots per game, 0.9 compared to 0.8, and more shots on target per game 0.3 compared 0.14.

Of course, these stats are likely to be affected by the fact the Spurs man has played three more games than Xhaka and it will be interesting to see how they end up comparing further in the campaign.

Tottenham’s Danny Rose celebrates scoring their first goal with Victor Wanyama and teammates