As Manchester City and Manchester United sit top of the Premier League, check out which team has the better playmaker: Kevin De Bruyne or Henrikh Mkhitaryan
BITTER cross-city rivals Manchester United and Manchester City were tipped to be the strongest title contenders ahead of the 2017-18 season.
And the two sides have set the early pace, occupying the top positions in the Premier League, both on ten points after four games.
The rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, the respective bosses of the two Manchester giants, is well known.
But there are key figures on the pitch who will have as much say in where the title goes at the end of the season as their managers.
None more so than playmaking pair Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Kevin De Bruyne.
The attacking midfielders act as the creative fulcrum of their sides, and their form and consistency over the campaign will be decisive.
But who is better, Mkhitaryan or De Bruyne? Our friends at Football Whispers have studied the stats in an attempt to answer that question.
Both the Armenian and the Belgian were stars in the Bundesliga before they made their big-money switches to Manchester.
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De Bruyne was voted Player of the Year in the in his final season in the German top flight with Wolfsburg and Mkhitaryan leading the division in assists with Borussia Dortmund.
Owing to the fact that he is the younger of the pair and Mkhitaryan was in the final year of his contract at Signal Iduna Park when United swooped, De Bruyne was far more expensive than the former Shakhtar Donetsk No10.
He cost City a club-record £55million in 2015, while the Old Trafford side picked up their man for a relatively cheap £26m a year later.
The difference in their respective price tags should not be considered indicative of a huge disparity in quality, however, as both are among the most potent creative attacking midfielders in Europe.
Looking at the two players’ statistics from the start of last season up until now, De Bruyne gets the better of the United player in most measurements.
In that period, the City star has scored six Premier League goals and registered a phenomenal 20 assists; Mkhitaryan has found the next four times and created six goals for team-mates.
However, spending a large stretch of time out of the Red Devils’ line-up as he adjusted to the demands of English football, Mkhitaryan started just 14 league games last term to De Bruyne’s 33.
That meant the Armenian’s goals and assists record was always likely to pale in comparison to the Belgian’s.
When looking at the average performance of each player per 90 minutes since the start of last season, things become a little more even.
De Bruyne’s average of 0.17 goals per 90 is actually lower than Mkhitaryan’s 0.21, showing that the United star was more of a direct goal threat in his time on the pitch than the former Chelsea man.
When it comes to assists, De Bruyne still comes out on top, averaging 0.55 per 90 to Mkhitaryan’s 0.32.
Both are respectable returns but the Etihad Stadium favourite’s unparalleled ability to split defences with incisive passes and his superb crossing technique perhaps makes him a more well-rounded creative force.
The Belgian also makes more key passes per 90, with 3.16 to 2.35 – again, both excellent averages.
As things stand, it must be concluded that De Bruyne is the better, more consistent creator of the pair.
Although, Mkhitaryan’s influence is growing at Old Trafford this term, with five assists – De Bruyne has just two – to his name already.
Not to mention the fact that the City player has been with his club 12 months longer than Mkhitaryan has been at United, and is therefore more accustomed to his surroundings.
Stationed wide on the right for much of his 2016/17 playing time, Mkhitaryan is now being deployed in his favoured No.10 role and Mourinho is reaping the rewards of that switch.
A key member of Guardiola’s exciting attacking unit, De Bruyne’s form and fitness will go a long way towards firing the Citizens to the title.
Likewise, if Mkhitaryan can keep up his current momentum, the Red Devils will be confident of being crowned champions of England for the 21st time.