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Chelsea and Manchester United combined XI: Seven to four

By Olaoluwa Nwobodo

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United battles for possession with Reece James of Chelsea during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alastair Grant/Pool via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 19: Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United battles for possession with Reece James of Chelsea during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Alastair Grant/Pool via Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 19: Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea controls the ball as Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United looks on during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andy Rain/Pool via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 19: Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea controls the ball as Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United looks on during the FA Cup Semi Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on July 19, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Andy Rain/Pool via Getty Images) /

Central midfielder, N’Golo Kante (No. 7), France

The central midfield position was also a difficult one, seeing as none of the teams in question have yet to convincingly control a game. The closest Chelsea came to controlling was the Crystal Palace game. Kante makes the cut not just because he’s Kante, but because for the job a central, defensive minded midfielder is tasked to carry out, Kante ticks many of the boxes. Distributing in midfield as well as making it difficult for the opposition to get to his goal. Kante has a passing accuracy of 87%. Kante also leads the whole league in interceptions per game 3.4, and he has played 89 minutes of all five games so far. The Frenchman also leads all Chelsea players in tackles per game (2.6), while being dribbled past once per game. These numbers show just how much spatial awareness Kante has, he’s always in the right place at the right time (cliché, I know) and can perhaps improve on his long passing. He shows why he has won two league titles and one World Cup in three consecutive years.

Central midfielder, Scott McTominay (No. 39), Scotland

This may be a bit of a surprise, but McTominay performs a defensive-minded midfielder’s role more adequately than many other central midfielders in question. The Scottish midfielder boasts a passing accuracy of 91%, and a tackling success of 3.0 per game (more than Kante). He has 1.7 interceptions per game, which is good for a midfielder, and better than all the other midfielders bar Kante and Jorginho (1.8). McTominay has only started two games for Manchester United this season, which is understandable looking at the amount and profile of midfielders that they have, but he’s done himself justice in that time and has done it better than many of his counterparts or colleagues. He has a dribbled past per game statistic of 0.7. If you wonder why Jorginho didn’t get in, it’s because Jorginho has a dribbled past per game statistic of 2.3, which is too high for a defensive midfielder who plays for a possession-heavy team.

Central attacking midfielder, Bruno Fernandes (No. 18), Portugal

Fernandes makes it into this line-up over Kai Havertz for obvious reasons. Havertz has only played five premier league games, but Fernandes started showing his impact in the league less than five games into his stay at Old Trafford. He adapted quicker, made a bigger impact from the get-go and is simply a better player than Havertz, which is not a knock on the German international. It would be unfair to Havertz to compare his numbers to the Portuguese maestro. However for good measure, according to SofaScore, Fernandes has 3.5 key passes per game, compared to Havertz 1.2. Fernandes has created two big chances already this season, Havertz has created none. Fernandes has completed, 2.3 (32%) of crosses per game, Havertz has completed 0.2 (17%). Fernandes has completed 3.3 long balls per game (46%) this season, Havertz has completed 0.4(67%). It’s a non-comparison.

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