Martin O’Neill has a difficult decision to make on who will start at right-back for Nottingham Forest against Derby County on Monday evening. Tendayi Darikwa got the nod in last Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Preston North End, but Saidy Janko is expected to return to give his manager a selection headache.
Stats from beIN Sports show that Darikwa has been a regular this season, making 22 Championship appearances, racking up 1973 minutes of playing time. Janko, however, has made only 14 league appearances and has amassed 1130 minutes of football.
Darikwa has made 1030 passes to Janko’s 493, has won 88 duels to his 78 and wins 46% of his aeriels duels to the defender’s 29%. Darikwa boasts 156 recoveries to Janko’s 65 too. In possession, however, is where Janko bests his competition. He has an 82.2% passing accuracy and 80% accuracy in the opponent’s half. Darikwa has managed only 77% and 71.5% respectively.
Janko has won 27 tackles (75%) to Darikwa’s 24 (64.9%), eight interceptions to his 39 and has made only 28 clearances to his 67. In the final third, Janko has a 13.6% cross success rate to Darikwa’s 15.9% and has created 13 chances to his 20. If O’Neill wants an attacking fullback who takes more risks on the ball, he should plump for Janko.
However, if the Forest manager wants a better defender who doesn’t relinquish possession cheaply, he should pick Darikwa.
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