When discussing the world’s most in-form forwards currently, there is no way two names won’t spring up. Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Raheem Sterling of Manchester City have done well so far in their footballing careers that should they choose to leave their current club, it won’t take long for clubs to start running after them.
Sterling’s Champions League performance where he scored a hat-trick has made fans and pundits start the comparison on who is the better player between him and Mane but Sterling has shown, over and over again that he is world-class and can only become better.
His treble helped Man City to a 5-1 win over Italian side Atalanta and took his tally to 18 goals and 14 assists in 39 Champions League games in a blue shirt.
Sterling and Mane’s performance has sparked several debates on social media on who the better player is and we will like to give it a look.
Defense
Sadio Mane has played a total of 12 matches across all competitions this season making a total of 879 minutes. He has an average of 1.9 tackles, 0.9 interceptions, 1.4 fouls per game, 0.3 clearance per game, and 0.7 dribbles per game. (WhoScored)
For Raheem Sterling, he has played a total of 26 matches this season, making a total of 1428 minutes. He has an average of 1.3 tackles per game, 0.4 interceptions per game, 1.3 fouls per game, 0.3 clearances per game, 0.8 dribbles per game and 0.1 blocks per game. (WhoScored)
Offense
On the offense, Sadio Mane has a total of six goals across all competitions with one assist. He has an average 2.1 shots per game, an average of two key passes per game, an average of 1.9 dribbles, and was fouled an average of 1.4 per game. (WhoScored)
Raheem Sterling, on the other hand has scored 24 goals in his 26 appearances and has made three assists. He has an average of 2.9 shots per game, an average of 1.8 key passes per game, an average of 1.9 dribbles, and fouled an average of 1.6 per game. (WhoScored)
Passing prowess
On their passing prowess, Sadio Mane has made one assist, an average of two key passes per game and 31.8 average passes per game. He has 81% pass success per game, an average of 0.1 crosses per game, an average of 1.1 long balls per game and an average of 0.2 through balls per game. (WhoScored)
Raheem Sterling has a total of three assists, an average of 1.8 key passes and 34.1 average passes per game. He has 80.9% pass success per game, an average of 0.3 crosses per game, an average of 0.3 long balls per game and an average of 0.3 through balls per game. (WhoScored)
Weakness, strength, and style of play
For Sadio Mane, he is weak with crosses and defensive contributions but has very strong finishing. He likes to cut inside during plays, he does not dive into tackles and gets fouled very often unlike Raheem Sterling whose finishing is very strong, has very strong key passes, strong dribbling, and accurate passes. Sterling also likes to cut inside, likes to play short passes, likes to dribble. He doesn’t dive into tackles but commits fouls often.
Conclusion
Both players are incredible in their role as shown in their stats but one will always be better than the other. With the stat present for both of them this season, it is easy to conclude that Sadio Mane is better than Raheem Sterling on the defense while Raheem Sterling is a better player on the offense.
