Fernandes, De Bruyne and Odegaard's 22/23 Premier League stats compared | OneFootball

Highlights

The Premier League is blessed with a plethora of world-class players, but one area where this depth in quality is particularly evident is the attacking midfield position.

This summer alone, a number of talented playmakers have been bought for big money by members of the top six, not least Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, James Maddison and Dominik Szoboszlai.

We've already compared how these four players fared statistically last season. Spoiler alert – one star sits head and shoulders above the rest.

This time, we've decided to do the same with three more of the Premier League's most influential creative midfielders in Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard.

All three are absolutely integral to their respective sides, but which of the trio had the best underlying numbers in the Premier League last season?

Using data from the statistics website Squawka, we've taken a look at 25 different categories to see which of the three comes out top in each case.

And while each of these individuals has the potential to be a game changer on their day, when it comes down to statistics alone, there's one clear winner.

De Bruyne tops just three statistics

The Belgian maestro has consistently been one of the league's best performers since he joined Manchester City in 2015 and has twice been named the Premier League Player of the Season.

Speaking on De Bruyne, Guardiola has previously described the midfielder as one of the best players he's ever coached.

“I think he is a special player — an outstanding player," he said.

“He makes everything. Without the ball he’s the first fighter, and with the ball it’s clear he sees absolutely everything. He decides what he has to do in the right moment every single time.

“Sometimes you have to pass with the first touch, sometimes you have to control. Sometimes you have to attack the ball. Every time he makes the right decision.

“I am lucky, we are happy. Hopefully he can enjoy with us to play his amazing football.

“He is one of [the best players I have managed]."

But remarkably, De Bruyne came top in just three of the 25 statistics analysed.

The first of these is long-pass accuracy, where De Bruyne's 68.64 per cent trumps Odegaard's 65.88 per cent and Fernandes' 57.71 per cent.

It's a similar story with successful crosses from open play. De Bruyne completed 29 last season, while Fernandes and Odegaard managed just 18 and five respectively.

De Bruyne also finished top in terms of assists – arguably one of the most important metrics for a playmaker.

The Belgian managed 16 assists in total, with Fernandes registering eight and Odegaard seven.

These numbers are pretty staggering, though they don't quite eclipse the 20 assists De Bruyne managed in the 2019/20 campaign – a record he shares with Thierry Henry.

Which statistics does Odegaard top?

Odegaard was named captain of the Gunners by Mikel Arteta at the start of the last campaign and he no doubt led from the front – winning the club's Player of the Season award.

Despite being more renowned for his creativity than his finishing, Odegaard managed 15 goals – the same as Fernandes and De Bruyne combined.

Even more impressively, all 15 of these strikes were non-penalty goals. Perhaps, if he'd been tasked with taking more spot-kicks, he could have ended up with close to 20 league goals.

De Bruyne may be the master of the long pass, but it's Odegaard who has the highest pass completion in general – managing an 83.96 per cent pass accuracy.

He also managed the most completed short passes with 1362 and the most passes completed in the opposition half with 1036.

The final statistic that the Norwegian star tops is take-ons completed.

Odegaard managed 51 successful take-ons, while Fernades managed 39 and De Bruyne just 29.

Which statistics does Fernandes top?

Overall, Fernandes tops 15 of the 25 statistics – proving just how well-rounded the Portuguese playmaker has become.

Fernandes assumed the captaincy for a large part of the 22/23 campaign after Harry Maguire was dropped and has now been put in charge permanently by Erik ten Hag.

The new United skipper had the highest Opta Performance Index of the three players – scoring a 72, with De Bruyne getting a 70 and Odegaard just 56.

He also managed the most touches of the three (2530) and the most ball recoveries (223).

Though Odegaard scored far more often, the shooting statistics suggest that Fernandes was desperately unlucky not to score more – registering 35 of his 70 shots on target.

Similarly, while it was De Bruyne who had more direct assists, it was Fernandes who created the most chances overall.

This suggests that the Red Devils could do with more clinical finishers in front of goal, with City boasting the lethal Erling Haaland.

Aside from a creative presence, Fernandes is not afraid of putting his body on the line and ranked higher than De Bruyne and Odegaard in terms of duels contested (354).

He also made more tackles, committed more fouls and won more ground duels.

Who is the best player?

Ultimately, irrespective of what the statistics show, deciding who you'd rather have between Fernandes, De Bruyne and Odegaard is a purely subjective exercise.

While De Bruyne is generally regarded as one of the Premier League's greatest-ever midfielders, all three players have unique skill sets which make them indispensable to their current sides.

De Bruyne's versatility and ridiculous passing range can help fashion chances out of nothing, while Fernandes' goal-scoring prowess and playmaking ability help elevate Manchester United as a side.

Odegaard, though considerably younger, has already demonstrated a maturity far beyond his years and is only going to get better.

As a trio, they epitomise the depth of quality that the Premier League has to offer, especially in the attacking midfield position.

They stand as prime examples of why the English top flight is the best league on the planet and why so many people tune in to watch every season.