Juan Mata and David Silva. Both of these Spaniards are widely regarded as the most creative players in the EPL. Remarkably similar playing styles, both Juan Mata and David Silva have been integral to the way their team play. Cheif Creators for their sides Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, it has been evident that when one of these Spaniards is not playing, their team suffers.
David Silva is being qidely touted as the best player in the Premiere League while Juan Mata has certainly received his fair share of plaudits for his performances
So my question is which former Valencia man would you choose to be in your team?
I would choose Juan Mata
Analayzing it from a statistical stand-point, both Juan Mata and David Silva by a remarkable coincidence have made 28 appearances in the PLM with 3 of them being as a subsititute giving us a nice platform to work with.
Both Juan Mata and David Silva have scored 6 goals in the Premiere League this season. David Silva slightly edges Juan Mata in the assists column, Silva having provided 12 assists to Juan Mata's 11.
However the most remarkable comparison can be made in the key passes per game. It is here where Juan Mata really shines having made 3.1 key passes per game to David Silva's 2.7 key passes per game
The Key passes per game stat tells us that Juan Mata creates far more goal-scoring opportunites for his team-mates than David Silva. Its just that unlike David Silva, he does not have the company of world-class strikers who can finish them off.
This is despite the fact that Juan Mata has been playing more games than David Silva. While David Silva was excellent in the first half of the season leading Manchester City to a 8 point lead at the top of the table, his performances have tailed off drastically in the second half of the season and this has coincided with Manchester City's poor run of form.
Hence, in my opinion Juan Mata has been better than David Silva over the course of this season. If I had started this Thread in December last year then David Silva would have won by some distance no doubt but over the whole season, it is Juan Mata who wins it for me.