A look at how Hull’s Michael Dawson and Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker compare this season.
Michael Dawson’s Hull City go head to head with Arsenal on Monday night, aiming to claim another scalp in the same week they beat Liverpool 1-0.
Despite home advantage, Hull will need to be at their best against the league’s form team, and Dawson will have to be at his best.
A player signed for just £3 million from Tottenham Hotspur last summer, as reported the Hull Daily Mail, and his performances this season have seen him outperform this week’s opponent Per Mertesacker in four key defensive categories.
| Aerial duels won per game | Interceptions per game | Won tackles per game | Passing Accuracy | Shots blocked per game | Effective Clearances per game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Dawson | 4.29 | 1.67 | 1 | 76% | 1.29 | 8.54 |
| Per Mertesacker | 3.2 | 2.17 | 0.63 | 88% | 0.67 | 6.03 |
Dawson has won more aerial duels, more tackles, made more effective clearances, and blocked more shots, all on a per game basis, than German international Mertesacker.
The Hull centre-back has four caps for England, but is not Roy Hodgson’s radar for the Three Lions at present, but his displays this season are encouraging despite the Tigers’ lowly position in the table.
Tottenham likely knew he was a better defender than the likes of Vlad Chiriches, but decided to turn the page on his career and let him move on so he could play regularly at Hull.
Dawson has shown he is too good to sit on the bench, but a real test of his credentials will be when he goes up against Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and co on Monday.
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