Manchester United and Liverpool are the two biggest football clubs in England.
Well, ok, that’s a controversial statement in itself, but the two north-west giants have the most league titles to their name and arguably boast the largest of the Premier League fanbases.
As a result, whenever both sets of supporters are brought into debates on social media – or pub tables when normal life resumes – you can be certain that the two sides will show their passion.
Mane and Rashford
And credit to them because the Old Trafford faithful and Kopites alike can’t be faulted for their loyalty, fighting the corner of their players and manager until they’re blue in the face.
It’s a situation that you see more and more often on platforms like Twitter as the use of statistics becomes increasingly available, so fans can pit certain players and coaches against each other.
Now, you’re probably getting the gist that this very scenario is beginning to emerge once again and you’d be exactly right because the duo of Sadio Mane and Marcus Rashford are being compared.
Closer matched than you’d think?
Aside from both being incredibly lovely human beings with a charitable spirit, they also happen to be extremely talented footballers, but there is certainly a consensus on which forward is better.
Fresh from filling his pockets with Premier League and Champions League winners’ medals, Mane has become revered as one of the world’s best players as well as the superior wide-man.
And while we’re not here to dispute that fact, an interesting data comparison emerged on United’s Reddit page this week that got us burrowing down into a statistical rabbit hole.
Statistical comparison
The debate surrounds whether Rashford’s newfound peak holds a candle to the form we’ve come to expect from Mane in recent years, so we’re looking at data since the start of the 2019/20 season.
And using the Premier League’s official stat comparison tool, you can get an idea of how Rashford and Mane shape up a lot closer than you’d imagine over the last year or so. Check it out:
GIVEMESPORT’s Kobe Tong says
Is Mane the better player? Of course he is, but let the statistics show that Rashford isn’t as far behind the Liverpool star as the prevailing narrative would have you believe.
The progress that Rashford, who is valued at £72 million, has made since the beginning of last season cannot be understated and all the while in a United team that hasn’t come anywhere near Liverpool’s level of consistency.
Also, it’s worth noting that the arrival of Bruno Fernandes has ensured that Rashford’s stats are no longer as diluted by penalties as you’d expect, though he still takes more than Mane, admittedly.
And do you know what? Stats aren’t everything, let’s make that clear, but you only have to look at Rashford’s flashes of brilliance over the last two seasons to see that he’s about more than just the numbers.
In fact, he’s about more than just football in general, so c’est la vie if you think he’s overrated on the pitch, but rate him from the rooftops when it comes to his work away from it.
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