Two of the most talked about footballers this season have been Manchester United’s Ramadel Falcao and Liverpool’s Mario Balotelli, but largely for the wrong reasons.
Opta-powered www.oulala.com have taken a closer look at the pair to see how they compare. Seven key areas were analysed and despite the disappointing figures from both, one leads in almost every criteria.
Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal has shown more faith in Falcao than Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has with Balotelli. The Colombian has played 8 more games in the Premier League than the Italian has this campaign.
Ramadel Falcao has scored more goals (four to one) and has racked up more assists (four to zero) than Balotelli. He has enjoyed the better strike-rate (11.8% to 0.2%) and has also excelled for passing (85% to 70%). The Colombian has also bettered the Italian for both successful dribbles (56.5% to 41.7%) and aerial success (27% to 22.9%). The only area that Balotelli does lead is shot accuracy (56% to 54%).
Manchester United fans have been far from impressed by Falcao, but looking at the stats it could have been far worse had they landed another player.
And the biggest difference? United can hand Falcao back to his owners, AS Monaco, at the end of the season. Liverpool, on the other hand, are stuck with Balotelli.
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