This Saturday will see the 180th North London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal at White Hart Lane. The reverse fixture at the Emirates in September finished 1-1.
The sides currently sit fifth and sixth in the Premier League table and with just two points separating them, the upcoming clash holds even more significance than usual in the fight for Champions League qualification.
Both teams go into the game on an excellent run of form. Tottenham are on an unbeaten run of 7 home league matches while Arsenal have enjoyed 5 wins from their last 5 games in all competitions.
Alexis Sanchez has been ruled out of the game with a hamstring injury. Opta powered fantasy football game Oulala have focused their attention to strikers Harry Kane and Olivier Giroud. With Kane’s dramatic rise this season and Giroud’s instant goal-scoring return from injury with 5 goals in his last 7 games, the comparison between the pair makes for some interesting reading.
With Giroud returning from an ankle injury and missing a large chunk of the season Kane has played 7 more games than the Frenchman (19 to 12). This has resulted in the Spurs striker completing a little shy of double the amount of minutes than Giroud has (1,261 to 684).
Despite less playing time it is Giroud that leads Kane with a superior strike-rate of 0.92 goals per 90 minutes to Kane’s 0.71. However, Kane has the better shot accuracy, 58% to Giroud’s 50%.
The Arsenal striker is the more creative of the pair with 1.45 chances created per 90 minutes to Kane’s 1. Of these chances it’s Kane’s team-mates that have been slightly more clinical with the Spurs man notching 0.14 assists per 90 minutes compared to Giroud’s 0.13.
Kane leads for successful dribbles (53.7% to 40%) but it is Giroud that has provoked more fouls per 90 minutes (2.1 to 1.8).
When it comes to passing it is the young Tottenham star that comes out on top with a pass completion of 77% to Giroud’s 68%.
With both forwards enjoying excellent recent goal-scoring form, the game is set up to be yet another classic between the two sides.
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