Perhaps the most telling of the statistics that have been put up in a BBC report to compare and contrast the contributions of the Arsenal and Germany international star with the Man City and Belgium creator in chief Kevin De Bruyne is in the number of Premier League assists each has to their name so far this season.
De Bruyne is easily leading this category with six to just two from our mercurial Gunner, but I think this may tell us more about the players around the playmakers at club level, because another of the categories is the amount of chances created and their numbers in that column are exactly the same at 30 each.
In fact you could well argue that the German attacking midfielder is doing better on that front because he has only played 568 minutes while De Bruyne has 841 under his belt. Not only does that show that Ozil has done his more frequently, I think you have to take account the time out for Ozil and how that will have affected his form and flow.
The two have scored the same number of EPL goals as well, so it seems a bit odd and more than a little unfair that De Bruyne is being praised to the high hills while the Arsenal man gets nothing but slagged off. If I was Arsene Wenger I would be putting an arm round his number 11’s shoulders and pointing this out, because Sunday pits the two directly against each other as Arsenal travel to the Etihad.
Will the way that both perform on the day be the difference between the teams, or will it be the way that the strikers of each side use the creative talent in their midst?
Bob.