FA Cup match-winner N'Golo Kante proves a mighty midfield presence for Chelsea

14 March 2017 11:53

N'Golo Kante's winner for Chelsea against Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-final had former Blues star Frank Lampard hailing him as the best midfielder in the world.

Here we look at some of the France international's official Premier League statistics this season to see just how well the £30million summer signing, a champion with Leicester last year, is doing.

Tackling

Last season the midfielder established himself as Leicester's linchpin, allowing others around him to flourish, and this season at Chelsea has been little different with his most impressive figures demonstrating his defensive capabilities. This season he is second only to Everton's Idrissa Gueye (101) in terms of tackles completed, with a total of 94. That is a reversal of last season when Kante finished the campaign ahead of Gueye, who was then an Aston Villa player, as comfortably the top tackler with 175.

Passing

For a defensive midfielder, whose job is to win the ball and move it on to the more creative players, Kante is still heavily involved. His tally of 1,602 passes is the sixth best in the league and currently better than Manchester City playmaker David Silva and Tottenham winger Christian Eriksen, for example, with the latter having played almost as many minutes.

Touches

Kante has deservedly earned a reputation for covering plenty of ground and seemingly doing the work of two men on occasions, and that is reflected in the number of touches he takes. He is seventh among his Premier League rivals with 2,007 touches, ahead of similar central midfield players such as Tottenham's Victor Wanyama (1,954 from a similar number of minutes) and Manchester City's Fernandinho (1,846).

Source: PA