How do Emre Can’s stats compare to Juventus’ midfielders?

Quick Reads

Planet Football
18th January 2018

Juventus chief executive Beppe Marotta has confirmed they will try to agree a deal for Liverpool‘s Emre Can.

Can has entered the final six months of his Liverpool contract and is now free to negotiate with foreign clubs over a free transfer in the summer.

The midfielder, who has been a regular at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp, is a long-term target of Juventus. And we’ve compared his stats to Juve’s regular midfield trio of Blaise Matuidi, Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira to see where he might fit into the Bianconeri’s side.

Goals and assists

Can has scored just once in the Premier League this season but has provided three assists, being directly involved in a goal once every 359 minutes.

That means he has directly contributed to more goals than both Matuidi and Khedira, the Frenchman scoring once and claiming two assists, and his German team-mate scoring three times but not yet setting a goal this season.

Matuidi has been directly involved in a goal every 434 minutes, while less time on the pitch means Khedira is involved in one every 320 minutes.

Pjanic, however, leads the way with three goals and six assists in Serie A this term, being directly involved in one goal every 135 minutes – or two in every three games. He’s definitely the Juve midfielder you’d back first for a goal.

Defensive work

Can is by far the most useful player defensively out of the four, averaging 3.3 successful tackles per 90 minutes of Premier League football (at a success rate of 73.3%), plus 1.4 interceptions and 1.6 clearances.

Pjanic comes closest to that level of contribution despite averaging just 1.1 tackles (also 73.3%), with 2.2 interceptions and 1.0 clearances per 90 minutes in the Serie A.

Matuidi makes on average 2.0 successful tackles per 90 minutes (66.6%), with 1.1 interceptions and 0.7 clearances.

Khedira, meanwhile, averages just 0.6 successful tackles (42.9%) per 90 minutes, with 0.8 interceptions and 0.9 clearances.

Khedira does commit far less fouls, however, averaging 0.5 per 90 minutes. Can commits the second fewest with 1.2, while Pjanic commits on average of 1.6 fouls per 90 minutes, and Matuidi an average of 1.8.

Other attacking contributions

Can averages the most successful dribbles per 90 minutes with 1.1 – at a success rate of 78.6%.

Matuidi is closest to him with 1.0 (62.5%), while Pjanic averages 0.9 (81.8%) and Khedira completes on average 0.6 successful dribbles per 90 minutes (75%) in Serie A.

It is perhaps unsurprising that Khedira loses the ball the least of the four, giving away possession on average 1.6 times per 90 minutes.

Pjanic is a close second, losing the ball 1.7 times per 90 minutes, with Can averaging 1.9 times in the Premier League.

Matuidi, meanwhile, concedes possession on average 2.9 times per 90 minutes of league action.

When Emre Can puts in a monumental shift like yesterday – it hits home just how good a player we may be losing.
He's not perfect, but that was a 24-year-old, no where near his peak, absolutely bossing a midfield full of stars.

He could dominate our midfield for years.

— Ben Webb (@BenWebbLFC) January 15, 2018

Passing

When it comes to key passes – creating chances for a team-mate – Pjanic is out in front with 2.7 per 90 minutes of action, or one every 32.7 minutes.

Can is slightly ahead of Matuidi and Khedira, averaging about exactly one a game (once every 89.8 minutes), while Khedira plays one every 95.9 minutes and Matuidi one every 100.1.

Overall, Can has the lowest passing accuracy of the quartet (85.8%). Matuidi (91.5%) leads the way, followed by Pjanic (89.8%) and Khedira (87.2%)