The derby under the magnifying glass of statistics / What the numbers say about the Tirana - Partizani duel

2024-11-30 13:16:00, Sport CNA

The derby under the magnifying glass of statistics / What the numbers say about

Tirana-Partizani derby

After many equal derby duels between Tirana and Partizan, this Sunday's will pit two teams that are playing in two completely different championships. On the one hand is Tirana, which has somewhat improved during the last two weeks a start below the expectations of this season, getting two positive results in a row.

On the other hand, there is Partizan, which suffered only one loss in the first week against Vllaznia and which is at the top of the classification, two points ahead of the Shkodra team. One of the reasons for Partizan's leadership is precisely the defense, which is the best in the championship, with only 10 goals conceded. Partizan's attack is also third in the championship, with 19 goals scored, one more than Tirana.

Despite the initial differences between these two teams this season, several players are standing out this season. Haxhiu of Tirana is the player who made the most crosses in the entire championship, with more than 5 crosses per match.

As for crosses from the left, Prengaj of Tirana is second and Buxhelaj of Partizan is third in this ranking, making about 3.5 crosses per match. Haxhiu has also stood out for his dribbles, with an average of just over 6 per game, ranking above Partizan's Cara in this classification. Both are in the top 5 of the championship for dribbles.

In defense, Kola of Tirana is the second player who wins the most duels (the first is Qaqi of Elbasan), with 79%, while the fifth is Preka of Partizan, with 77% of the duels won.

The reason for the strength of Partizan's defense can be found in the individual rankings; Mehmeti, a defensive midfielder, is fourth in the list of players who have recovered the most balls, a typical statistic for defenders, with 5.83 ball recoveries per game. Also, Preka is fifth in this ranking in the entire championship, with 5.74 rebounds per game.

However, the derby always holds surprises. What is certain is that there will be many players to keep an eye on./ CNA