Mane v Ozil: One player betters the other in five key areas

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Liverpool and Arsenal will be looking to challenge for the title this season.

Liverpool and Arsenal stars Sadio Mane and Mesut Ozil are among the two best attacking players in the Premier League this season, and both have started the current campaign well.

The two Premier League title challengers met on the first day of the campaign, a game which saw seven goals and plenty of other incidents as Jurgen Klopp’s men ran out 4-3 winners.

Liverpool then followed that up with a defeat at Burnley while Arsenal were held at Leicester City, but since then the two teams have seemingly hit top gear and currently sit in the top four.

Ozil and Mane are both influential figures in their respective sides, and while both have been playng well of late one in particular has bettered the other in as many as five key attacking areas.

As shown by the table provided by Opta above, former Southampton man Mane is certainly justifing his big-money move to Anfield as he topples Ozil in numerous categories.

Mane has scored three goals and provided one assist in his six league matches to date for the Reds, while he also averages more shots, successful take-ons and ball recoveries than Ozil per encounter.

Arsenal’s German international averages 2.17 chances per game, which is among the best in the Premier League, yet there still remains questions marks over his goalscoring ability.

Liverpool’s high pressing can be illustrated by Mane’s impressive 6.33 ball recoveries per game, while Ozil on the other hand is the Gunners’ leading attacking playmaker with an average of 77.17 touches per match.

Both players are no doubt in the discussion when debating the best attacking players in England, though at this early stage there appears to be one clear winner between the two.