The La Liga blood is about to be spilled in the Premier League with two North London clubs flourishing from two Spanish league midfielders. In Lo Celso Spurs have managed a bargain and in Dani Ceballos, Arsenal have earned the “rights of bargain.” Raul, how could you get Dani for such little so easily?
Arsenal got Real Madrid to accept loan terms for Dani Ceballos while Spurs emptied their locker to get Lo Celso from Real Betis. A PSG player until April, Betis made a huge profit out of Lo Celso. While Ceballos really got into the limelight after lifting Spain to Under-21 Championship in Italy.
Directly comparing the two midfielders may not be fair but here are a few points than can be cooked to give you a brief of who among the two is better.
Goal Scored and Assists Provided
Two midfielders infused from an a league of “attack,attack and attack” surely have stats worth glancing. In terms of goals and assists, Lo Celso has been more productive and conducive. Lo Celso scored a combined 14 goals in his Betis jersey( 9 in La Liga and 5 in Europa League) with a tally if 5 assists. The Argentine was sensational in Europa League where he scored his tally of 5 in only 7 games.
Ceballos was not as good though. The young gun of Madrid then could only register 3 goals in the 23 appearances that he made with no assists at all. If any good can be for Arsenal fans, Ceballos was not bad as the stats show. He could amass 0.22 goals per 90 minute as compared to 0.34 of Lo Celso’s.
Creativity and Dribbles
The reason Lo Celso and Dani Ceballos have been talked about is wholly and solely because of the fact that Christian Eriksen is on the verge of leaving Spurs and Mesut Ozil has not yet established himself under Emery. Are they both really good to outdo their predecessors in terms of creativity and skills?
Dani Ceballos would not have been good in front of goal but did contribute his best in providing 1.73 chances per game as compared to 1.01 of Lo Celso. Arsenal sure don’t have a goal-scorer which I don’t think they crave for with Auba and Laca on the line but what the Gunners surely have is a player capable of making chances.
The dribbling ability of Lo Celso makes him an A class midfielder. The Argentine has 2.36 take-ons per game as compared to a mere 1.01 of Lo Celso.
Positions
Lo Celso has been brought in as a potential Eriksen replacement and will therefore be seen in an more advanced role. His ability too requires the needful. The Argentine has 4.68 touches per game in oppositions half. It wholly makes sense that Lo Celso is played in attacking thrid.
Dani Ceballos will be deployed in a more defensive role where he will have to bring out tackling skills in action. Not that he is a defensive midfielder but he surely is capable of playing in a role that Emery suggest.
Both the midfielders are new and have come from an off’ensive league. Thus, the one to acclimatise to English conditions faster will dig in deeper.
