Walcott, Downing or Oxlade-Chamberlain?

Ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool on Saturday, Castrol EDGE Performance data compares the performances of England rivals Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Stewart Downing in the Premier League this season.

Recently, Oxlade-Chamberlain’s has provoked the most interest, and this is in large part due to the 18 year old’s impressive dribbling ability. On average, the former Saints winger completes a dribble every 20 minutes, which is more than any other player in the league, and his success rate (57%) is currently superior to both Walcott’s (34%) and Downing’s (39%).

Remarkably, Stuart Downing has yet to score or create a goal in the league this season, but his lack of assists could be due to Liverpool’s misfiring strikers.  Downing has delivered 111 crosses – the ninth most in the league – and his pass success rate (85.5%) is better both of Arsenal’s wide men.

Like Downing, Theo Walcott has had a mixed season to date, but he has been involved in 28 league goals for the Gunners since the start of 2010/11. This is the fourth highest in the league for a midfielder and four more than Gareth Bale, who has been involved in 24.

Walcott, Downing and Oxlade-Chamberlain – Premier League 2011/12

Player Walcott, Theo Downing, Stewart Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex
Games Played 25 24 7
Minutes Played 1963 1751 326
Goals 5 0 2
Assists 7 0 1
Shots, Total (inc Blocks) 61 49 9
Shots per Game 2.4 2.0 1.3
Passes Successful 464 758 116
Passes Successful per Game 18.6 31.6 16.6
Pass Success Rate % 80% 85.5% 84.1%
Crosses Open 104 111 8
Crosses Open per Game 4.2 4.6 1.1
Dribbles Completed 30 16 16
Dribbles Completed per Game 1.2 0.7 2.3
Dribble Success Rate % 34% 39% 57%
Shot Conversion Rate % 10.9% 0.0 25.0%

Least minutes per dribble in PL 2011/12

Player Minutes Played Dribbles Completed Mins Played / Dribbles Completed
Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alex 326 16 20.38
Hoilett, David 1916 64 29.94
Kalou, Salomon 181 6 30.17
Ben Arfa, Hatem 605 19 31.84
Moses, Victor 2269 67 33.87

Midfielders’ direct involvement in goals since start of 2010/11 season

Player Assists Goals Total
Nani 22 15 37
van der Vaart, Rafael 12 20 32
Dempsey, Clint 7 22 29
Walcott, Theo 14 14 28
Adam, Charlie 14 14 28
Silva, David 19 9 28
Lampard, Frank 7 20 27
Young, Ashley 16 9 25
Bale, Gareth 8 16 24

Most crosses in PL 2011/12

Player Crosses Open Assists
Baines, Leighton 143 2
Jarvis, Matthew 142 4
Nani 134 8
Pennant, Jermaine 127 3
Etherington, Matthew 125 6
Sebastian Larsson 122 2
Petrov, Martin 113 4
Bosingwa, José 111 2
Downing, Stewart 111 0
Bale, Gareth 109 7

Who would you take to Euro 2012? Walcott, Downing or the boy built and named like a frieght train, Oxlade-Chamberlain?

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