Jeremy Jacquet vs Ronald Araujo: Debut statistics highlight just how different Liverpool newboys are
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Liverpool have pinned their hopes on Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo to solve a slightly worrying centre-back situation this season, and both came up trumps on debut this Sunday.There have been plenty of concerns from supporters that the Reds are heading into the season short at the back, but Jacquet‘s return to fitness and the surprise loan signing of Araujo have eased those worries.They were assuaged even further during the friendly win over Como, when Jacquet delivered an exceptional 45 minutes and even scored, before Araujo came on in the second half and looked re-assuredly commanding. Liverpool’s win over Como was all about Jeremy Jacquet!
The pair very obviously have contrasting styles of defending.Jacquet is much more of a passing centre-backOne of the issues Liverpool fans often had with Ibrahima Konate over the years was that he was often somewhat one-dimensional with the ball at his feet.Opponents tended to allow the Frenchman to build-up from the back, safe in the knowledge that he was not especially comfortable doing so.READ MORE: Alisson explains what was so good about Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo’s first game for LiverpoolThe hope will be that Jacquet is an upgrade on this, and the numbers behind his first appearance for Liverpool are encouraging on that front.The 21-year-old attempted 29 short passes on Sunday, completing 27 (93%) of them. The French youngster also tried one successful dribble, and recorded a ball-carry distance of 85 metres, while his fellow new arrival did not try any dribbles during the match, and moved the ball forward 64 metres.This bears out in their respective heatmaps, with Jacquet doing most of his work in the areas just behind the halfway line, with Araujo a good 10 yards or so further back.Araujo leads the way as a duel-winnerThe most impressive part of Jacquet’s game on Sunday was arguably not when he had the ball, though, but his actual bread and butter defending.
Remember, the Reds have a buy option of around £47m… Photo Credit: Getty Images/Liverpool Four out of five duels won on the ground is impressive, while Araujo also won one of his two aerial duels contested.Meanwhile, though Jacquet was involved in more ground duels (10), his success rate was lower, as he only came out on top in seven. His aerial stats have actually been very good in Ligue 1, but he did not attempt to win a ball in the air during his Liverpool debut.Araujo made more clearances (two to one), and with the Reds having their backs slightly to the wall during the second half, he showed how he can be relied upon to deliver some no-nonsense football at the back.You need every kind of defensive tool you can get to win the Premier League, and need to be ready for any situation.