Southampton host Stoke at St Mary’s Stadium this weekend, with both wingers looking to make an impression.
This weekend sees Southampton host Stoke City in what will be a clash between two of the Premier League’s more ambitious sides.
Southampton have continued to impress under Ronald Koeman, while Stoke are keen to maintain their improvement under Mark Hughes in recent seasons.
Two players who are sure to be key to any success are Sadio Mane and Xherdan Shaqiri, with both playing a big part for their respective teams.
Who has been the more impressive so far this season, though? We decided to take a look at the stats to find out.
| Season | Ontarget Attempted Assist per Game | Goal Assist per Game | Accurate Pass per Game | Successful Final Third Passes per Game | Unsuccessful Touches per Game | Won Contest per Game | Ontarget Scoring Attempts per Game | Goals per Game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sadio Mané | 2015-2016 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 24.1 | 11 | 3.25 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.25 |
| Xherdan Shaqiri | 2015-2016 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 22.2 | 9 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0 |
And it’s a clear win for Mane, who managed to come out on top in all eight stats we looked at.
Mane has enjoyed more on target attempted assists per game, and assists per game, while his passing has also been superior to Shaqiri’s.
He has also taken in fewer unsuccessful touches per game than the Stoke man, while also managing to enjoy more successful dribbles.
Similarly, he has been more of an attacking threat than Shaqiri, registering more on target scoring attempts as well as a better goals per game ratio.
A clear victory for Mane, then, who will be hoping to be similarly dominant when the two sides clash this weekend.
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