The battle to be Manchester United’s first selection left again between Luke Shaw and Alex Telles is nearer than ever.
Telles accompanied interim supervisor Ralf Rangnick to yesterday’s press convention forward of tonight’s essential Champions League match in opposition to Atletico Madrid, hinting that he may very well be beginning the match even when Shaw has recovered absolutely from Covid-19.
Shaw’s type this season has been patchy, while Telles, who struggled in his first yr on the membership, has improved.
It’s usually assumed that Shaw is the extra stable choice defensively whereas Telles presents extra in assault, however the season’s statistics, curiously, don’t bear out that assumption.
Shaw has performed 19 Premier League video games this season (18 begins) whereas Telles has performed 13, with 11 begins. This provides quantity of minutes to check between the 2.
Telles simply has the sting for general sofascore score per recreation, with 6.95 in opposition to Shaw’s 6.89 (supply of this and different stats: sofascore.com).
When it comes to offensive stats, the pair are fairly comparable. Telles has twice as many photographs per recreation (0.6 vs. 0.3) with the identical ratio heading in the right direction (0.2 vs. 0.1). They’ve registered the identical proportion of assists however Shaw has created extra huge possibilities (0.26 per recreation vs Telles’ 0.07).
However in defensive stats, Telles comes out because the stronger of the 2. He makes twice as many interceptions as Shaw (1 per recreation vs 0.5), greater than twice as many tackles (2.7 vs. 1.1), has gained possession barely extra usually (0.5 vs. 0.4 per recreation) and makes virtually twice as many clearances (1.7 vs. 0.9).
This maybe ought to give Telles the sting when it comes to who must be the primary selection.
Clearly the Premier League is much tougher than the Portuguese League, however it is also argued that the Brazilian remains to be but to seek out the form of type that prompted United to signal him within the first place.
In 2019/20, taking part in for FC Porto, Telles scored 11 objectives and supplied 8 assists in 31 league video games, an exceptional file for a full again.
In equity, it must also be mentioned that Shaw’s type of 2020/21 earned him a participant of the yr award and would most likely tip the stability again in his favour had been he to rediscover it.
It’s a fascinating contest and one that can hopefully convey out one of the best of each gamers because the season attracts to a detailed.
