Sunderland vs Arsenal: How key men Kone and Mustafi compare

Follow us on Google Discover

Sunderland host Arsenal at the Stadium of Light in Saturday’s early kick-off.

This weekend sees Sunderland hosting Arsenal at the Stadium of Light in the Saturday’s early kick-off.

The two sides have had vastly different starts to the campaign, with the Black Cats bottom of the Premier League and the Gunners joint first alongside Liverpool and Manchester City.

An easy win is predicted for the Gunners given each team’s relative form, but Arsene Wenger’s side will know it will not be that easy.

Two key players in either team are the centre-backs Lamine Kone and Shkodran Mustafi.

Kone arrived at the Black Cats in the January transfer window and helped transform their fortunes, while Mustafi has had a similarly big impact on Arsenal’s defence since joining this summer.

So how do the two players compare in the stats this season? We have taken a look.

As it turns out the German has been the better as he came out on top in six of the eight areas analysed.

So far he has posted more won tackles per game, two compared to 1.14 and more interceptions per game, 2.33 compared to 1.29.

He has also won more defensive duels and aerials duels that the Sunderland man has managed.

Interestingly, though, Kone has been better at winning the ball in the defensive third, doing so on 3.57 occasions per game compared to 2.5, and posted more ball recoveries per game, 5.43 compared to five.

Mustafi has been the better passer, however, posting more than three times as many accurate passes per game and enjoying an overall better passing accuracy.

A comfortable win for Mustafi then, and Arsenal will be hoping he is the better of the two when they meet in Saturday’s early kick-off.