Manchester City vs Arsenal will be Samir Nasri vs Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil

Arsenal midfielders, past and present, go head to head at the Etihad Stadium this weekend as the Gunners travel to Manchester City. Whilst Arsenal’s key man is likely to be their £42m record signing Mesut Ozil, their opponents can boast an in-form Samir Nasri in their midfield. Nasri left Arsenal in 2011 and has been in exceptional form for the Citizens this season. The comparison between old and new is an intriguing subplot to what is already a pulsating clash involving two title contenders. But who will come out on top?

The pair have both contributed the same number of goals – 4 – from midfield this season. Providing goal threats from advanced midfield positions, Ozil slightly shades his predecessor in goal threat as he has worked the keeper more with a shot accuracy of 81% compared to Nasri’s 67%.

Ozil Chances Created

Whilst there is little between the two in front of goal, Ozil has performed better in terms of chance creation this season – living up to his “assist king” nickname. He has six assists – the joint most in the league – compared to Nasri’s two. When combining assists and key passes which created chances that weren’t converted, Ozil has created 34 chances this season to Nasri’s 31.

This comes in spite of Arsenal, as a team, scoring fewer goals and creating fewer chances than City, and underlines the German’s importance to the team. Ozil has created 21% of Arsenal’s chances this season, and set up 20% of their goals, whilst Nasri has provided 16% of City’s chances and 5% of their goals. Ozil, therefore, not only provides chances more frequently than Nasri, but provides a bigger percentage of his team’s creative play.

Nasri Average Duels Won

In truth, separating the two is a difficult process. Equal on goals but behind on assists, Nasri has completed more take ons (27 to 22) and has a better take-on success percentage (77% to 47%) to pull the comparison back. The duo have similar numbers of passes – Ozil has completed 22 more, but Arsenal as a side have completed more than City – whilst Nasri just edges it in terms of accuracy, 90% to 88%.

Nasri MOTM v United

Where the two are distinctly separate this season is in their performances in big games. Possessing undoubted talent, the main criticism that can be levelled at Ozil’s Arsenal career so far is that he has been notably absent in the big games. Against Manchester United he was poor, whereas Nasri produced a man of the match display and a goal against the same opponents.

Ozil was a peripheral figure at Old Trafford earlier in the season

If Ozil can step up to the plate against City, then such murmurings over his big game performances would disappear. The German just shades his French rival in attacking statistics this season, with a slight creative edge over Nasri, but with two such talented players the one that comes out on top is likely to be the one that produces the big game performance, when it matters.