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Chelsea v QPR | Lampard v Barton

In the lead up to the derby between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea there is a battle in midfield that is key and also has a bit of history.

Joey Barton on Frank Lampard:

“Honestly, I think I’m the best English midfielder. Luka Modric and Samir Nasri are very good, but in terms of English players … Well, Jack Wilshere isn’t bad, but Frank Lampard’s on the way down and Steven Gerrard’s been injured a lot.”

Frank Lampard this season has been under a lot of criticism. He’s been less of a figurehead for Chelsea and England and he’s taken more of a squad role which many Chelsea and England fans actually approve of, considering his age and him coming to the end of his career. The media have latched on to this saying that he is ‘passed it’, ‘he’s gone’ etc. However, four goals in two games against Bolton and Valencia have started to prove the doubters wrong. Joey Barton made the switch from Newcastle to QPR in the summer after his contract ended. He polarises opinion with fans, you either love him for his opinionated tweets and speaking his mind or hate him for his attitude.

So, who’s better? The statistics below give us a good outline of who is performing better this season. Even when putting into consideration that Lampard has played more games than Barton, his statistics stack up much more favourably than Barton. Lampard has a 83.33% tackle success rate while Barton has a 68.42% success rate, considering that Barton is a more of an ‘all-round midfielder’ this may come as a surprise.

In terms of passing and attacking, yet again Lampard’s statistics are better than those of Barton’s, he has a pass completion of 86.27% while Barton has a pass completion of 69.15%, in open play Barton has 74% while Lampard has a rather impressive 89%. In terms of crossing Lampard favours better as well, with 33% accuracy while Barton has an accuracy of 21%. In terms of attacking Chelsea’s number eight has had four goals while his QPR counterpart has only scored the one. ‘Super Frank’ has a shooting accuracy of 67% while Barton has 60% as well as having 44% chance conversion rate to Barton’s 20%.

So, in conclusion, the statistics show us that Lampard is performing better than Joey Barton this season, although people will say that Lampard is past his best this is surely not the case, although more of a squad player he still has a massive influence on Chelsea and their title challenge. Although Barton has worse statistics in this instance, he is still vital for QPR and if they do survive then the infamous tweeter will be key to them featuring next year in the Premier League.

Kieran Makwana
Kieran Makwana
My name is Kieran Makwana, currently studying Management at Lancaster University, I'm a lover of all things Chelsea Football Club, apart from Ron Gourlay. Follow me on Twitter - @BigMak92
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