Jérémy Doku & Marcus Rashford stats so far in 2023/24 compared | OneFootball

Every season in the Premier League, there are a few new players who arrive in the summer and instantly make a good impression on English football. This time around, Jérémy Doku of Manchester City has led the way on that front.

The Belgian winger was signed from Rennes in a reported £55.5m deal to help fill the void left by Riyad Mahrez who moved to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. The 21-year-old has settled in immediately and has already established himself as one of the top attacking players in the English top flight.

He showcased his skills in a match against Bournemouth in November, as he became one of just nine players to register four assists in a single Premier League game. And while Doku and Man City have made a fine start for the season, local rivals Manchester United have not enjoyed quite the same joy.

This was well summed up when the two teams met in October at Old Trafford and Pep Guardiola's men cruised to an easy 3-0 win in the Manchester Derby. Despite their shaky form, the Red Devils are still sixth in the table and perhaps they can climb even higher if they can get the best out of star forward Marcus Rashford over the coming months.

However, when you take a look at his Premier League stats compared to Doku's so far this season, via Squawka, it's clear to see which one of the two players is playing the better football right now. As you can see in the table below, as well as in our explanation after that, Rashford has some work to do if he wants to remind everyone that he is indeed one of the league's star wingers.

Rashford can't keep up with Doku in attack

The first thing to note is that Rashford has played in two more league games than Doku, but he's also played 937 minutes of football, compared to the City man's 555 minutes. That's 382 more minutes of game time and yet in every section listed, apart from one, Doku has superior stats.

Indeed, despite bagging 17 goals in 35 games last term, Rashford has only netted once in his first 11 outings this term. His Belgian counterpart already has two goals in his first nine games in the Premier League. This isn't surprising as Doku performs better when it comes to shots on target – averaging one per game, compared to 0.8 – and has a greater conversation rate of 18.18% compared to 5.56%. Traditionally, you would expect Rashford to be one of the most potent attackers in the league but it clearly just isn't happening for him right now.

Doku is the take-on king

When it comes to assists, we all know this is where Doku has been very impressive this season already which is why he has five assists to his name in the league, while Rashford has just one. This works out at 0.9 per 90, compared to the Englishman's 0.1. It's no surprise that he has more assists either, especially as he also performs better when it comes to chances created, and crosses attempted per 90 – although the duo are level in through balls attempted.

But part of what makes Doku so creative is his ability to beat his man. With a take-on success of 63.27%, compared to Rashford's 50%, the Belgian is understandably more than happy to run at opposition fullbacks at every opportunity, knowing he can beat his marker more often than not. What's more, so far this term, the 21-year-old has completed five dribbles per 90 minutes, which is 1.3 clear of any other Premier League player.

Rashford could work harder

But it appears as though Doku is also working harder than the Man United forward to keep his team on the front foot throughout games as well. This is highlighted by him having 4.6 ball recoveries per game, while Rashford is well below that at 2.5.

The Belgian also draws more fouls at 2.5 compared to 0.8, and seems to be better at winning the ball back for his team as well with a ground duel success rate of 65.26% compared to 38.64%. All this certainly goes to show just how underwhelming Rashford has been, but if he looks bad in comparison to Doku he can at least take some solace in the fact that Squawka do rate the Man City star as the Premier League’s best winger in 2023/24 so far. So nobody looks quite as impressive as the Belgian star right now!