The two midfielders were key to Arsenal and West Ham this past season.
A fierce rivalry of the attacking midfielders was struck up in London this year, as Arsenal and West Ham both had their star men.
Mesut Ozil dominated the assist charts to confirm his status as one of the world’s best, while Dimitri Payet proved to be one of the signings of the season.
Indeed, it became something of an added tension between the two sides as each continuously insisted that their man was the better of the two.
For the PFA at least, it was Payet, as he made it into their Team of the Year while Ozil was left out.
But how did the two players compare in the stats this past season? We decided to find out.
| Team | Season | Goals | Goal Assist | Total Att Assist per Game | Accurate Pass per Game | Successful Final Third Passes per Game | Accurate Cross per Game | Won Contest per Game | Touches per Game | Appearances | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimitri Payet | West Ham | 2015-2016 | 9 | 12 | 3.97 | 33.9 | 15.37 | 3.17 | 2.23 | 67.27 | 30 |
| Mesut Özil | Arsenal | 2015-2016 | 6 | 19 | 4.17 | 56.11 | 29.09 | 2.66 | 1.31 | 84.66 | 35 |
And it transpires Ozil was better in five of the areas we looked at, but Payet wasn’t completely overawed.
He managed more goals than the Germans across the year; with his tally of nine and impressive return for his first season in England.
He was also a better crosser, posing more accurate crosses per game than his rival, as well as winning more contests per game.
Beyond that though, Ozil was better, as he registered more assists, more key passes per game, more accurate passes per game and enjoyed more successful passes in the final third per game.
On average he was also more involved, posting more touches per game than Payet in a comparison that shows the Frenchman has some work to do to reach Ozil’s level just yet.
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