Both Leeds United central defenders have performed brilliantly this season to help guide the club to a seventh placed finish, but who has been the standout?
We take a look at the stats for both players based on the Sky Bet Championship season alone to see who has shone above the other.
First up is the big Swede, Pontus Jansson.
Arguably he’s been the standout player for Leeds United this season, and many feel he was unfortunate to lose out to Chris Wood for player of the season.
He’s featured in 34 games, playing 3014 minutes of football.
Going forward, the Swedish international has scored three goals for the club in the league, and contributed one assist.
He’s picked up an astonishing 14 yellow cards, but was not sent off once.
His passing averaged out at 85.3%, which shows good consistency for a centre back throughout the season.
Defensively his standout stat would be interceptions. The Swedish defender averages 1.8 interceptions per game.
He also averages 1.6 tackles, and 1.2 blocks per game.
His clearance rate is also extremely impressive, with Jansson averaging 10.1 clearances per game.
Now onto his central defensive partner, Kyle Bartley.
The English defender has missed just one league game so far, playing 44, and notching up 3960 minutes on the pitch.
He has a better scoring record than Jansson, finding the back of the net six times, and proving two goals for his teammates.
His disciplinary record is also better than his Swedish partner’s, picking up just nine yellow cards all year.
Bartley’s pass completion is 79.1%, which is substantially lower than Jansson’s.
Defensively, the pair are very similar. Bartley averages 1.6 interceptions, 1.3 tackles and 1.1 blocks per game.
Bartley’s clearances are slightly lower however, with the Englishman averaging just 7.6 per game.
Looking at the stats, it seems difficult to choose between the two. Ask Leeds United fans, and I am sure they will tell you Jansson has been better, but without Bartley partnering him in defence, the Whites would be a lot worse off this season.
All stats were taken from whoscored.com
