Creative Soccer Culture

Award winners clash in London derby

Award winners clash in London derby


Arsenal make the short trip to White Hart Lane on Wednesday night, aiming to exact revenge on a Tottenham Hotspur side that embarrassed them on their own turf earlier this season; winning 3-2 after finding themselves two goals down at half-time.



There is no doubt that much of the attention will be focused on the two players that picked up the PFA awards on Sunday night , with Player of the Year winner and Spurs wing wizard Gareth Bale coming up against the Young Player of the Year; Arsenal's Jack Wilshere.  



In the Premier League this season, Bale has been a force to be reckoned with on the left flank, firing in seven goals and assisting one more. However, the Gunners midfielder Wilshere has assisted two more goals (3) and provided three more goalscoring chances (45) than the Welshman.



Wilshere has a superior passing accuracy; both overall (86% v 73%) and in the final third of the pitch (78% v 65%) and has also been more involved in matches than Bale on average, touching the ball 72 times a game compared to Bale's average involvement of 62 touches a match.



Somewhat expectedly, Bale is much more of a threat in and around the box than the English midfielder though; attempting 23 more shots and having a superior shooting accuracy and conversion rate. More surprising is the fact that Bale has a better tackle success rate than Wilshere - 77% to the Englishman's 74%.



Both players are prize assets for their respective rival brands. As two of the Premier Leagues hottest young talents, Bale and Wilshere have had defining seasons that has seen them become lead players for their football boots.



Gareth Bale's rise to Europe's elite has resulted in him becoming one of the lead poster-boys for the adiZero. While Jack Wilshere's commanding performances in the Arsenal midfield has transformed the young Englishman into arguably the most exciting young CTR player.  

Have your say on tonights Premier League London derby and join the conversations with the SoccerBible community online, on Twitter and on Facebook.

Author
Admin

The Creative Soccer Culture Brief

Sign up to our newsletter and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the world of Creative Soccer Culture.