Emerson V Digne: Who Is The Better Wingback? We Take A Look At The Numbers

Chelsea remain in discussions with Lyon in a bid to recall Emerson Palmieri from his loan spell at the Ligue One side.

Manager Thomas Tuchel is said to prefer bringing back the Italian to Stamford Bridge, rather than pursuing other options as he looks to replace the injured Ben Chilwell.

One of the players who has reportedly been considered is Everton’s Lucas Digne. The left-back is now expected to join Aston Villa but would the Blues have been better off signing the 28-year-old, rather than recalling Emerson?

Press the next page as we look at some (league only) statistics to find out. We have used FBREF to look through both players’ whole careers, so please bear in mind that the numbers are incomplete (their stats for some metrics only start at the 2017/18 season).

Goals And Assists

We won’t be looking at expected goals or expected assists as the stats for these don’t go back far enough into their respective careers, so we have looked at actual goals and assists instead, even if this may skew things slightly.

On these metrics, Digne comes out on top, getting 0.14 goals/assists per 90 minutes. In contrast, Emerson has managed 0.10 per 90 throughout his career.

Passes

For this area, we decided to look at key passes (a pass that leads to a shot) and completed passes into the 18-yard box, to determine how threatening the two players are around the opponent’s penalty area.

Again, Digne is first on both stats. The Frenchman averages 1.79 key passes per 90 (compared to Emerson’s 1.06), while the Everton defender has managed 1.25 passes into the box per 90, in contrast to Emerson’s 0.95.

Pressing

Pressures on the ball determine how willing a player is to press his opponent, and while some of this is dependent on the style of play of the team they are playing for, it does show you how prepared they are to harry the opposition.

Digne is more willing to press (14.3 pressures per 90) than Emerson (10.7 per 90) based on the statistics we have available. With Tuchel keen on players who work hard off the ball, Digne has it in his game to meet expectations.

Carries

Carrying the ball forward is a key aspect of playing as a wingback so for this area, we decided to assess progressive carries (running forward with the ball five yards in the opposition half) and carries into the penalty box.

Emerson is way out in front in both of these metrics. The Italian international averages 7.27 progressive carries per 90 (to Digne’s 4.55) and 0.80 carries into the 18-yard box per 90 (in contrast to Digne’s 0.18). Whether this is because Emerson plays as wingback more often, we would have to do more digging.

Aerial Duels

Being strong in the air may be more applicable as a fullback than as a wingback but it is still an important stat to be aware of when assessing the two defenders.

Both Digne and Emerson are quite well-matched in this stat, with the Everton player coming out on top narrowly, winning 67.3% of his aerial duels, compared to Emerson’s 63.6%.

In conclusion then, we believe that Digne is the better all-round player, but Emerson is still a very capable wingback.

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