Thiago's 2019-20 Bundesliga numbers compared with Liverpool midfielders

Bengaluru, July 8: Liverpool have recently been linked with a surprise move for Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara.

The Spanish midfielder has been pivotal in the German champions set-up since his arrival from Barcelona in 2013 and this term too he has been influential in the side.

But as per CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, he could be on his way out of Bayern in the upcoming transfer window for a new challenge at this stage in his career.

Liverpool are rumoured to be one of the sides who would like to sign him in Summer as per reports.

Signing him would add huge quality in the midfield and add some much-needed experience to Klopp's squad. However, how is he compared to the current Liverpool options?

Below we have compared (with data from whoscored) Liverpool's central midfielders of this season with the Bayern Munich midfielder's performance in Bundesliga.

Liverpool midfield options include - Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Georginio Wijnaldum and Fabinho.

Goal involvement

This segment surely does not come under Thiago's speciality as he mostly played as a holding midfielder or box to box midfielder. But despite such, he has registered three goals with no assists in 24 Bundesliga appearances in 2019-20.

On the other hand, Liverpool's most productive midfielder this season is their skipper Jordan Henderson. He has recorded three goals and five assists. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Wijnaldum both also have 3 goals each with no assist. Keita has managed one goal and two assists while Lallana has one goal and one assist and Fabinho two goals and assists each.

Key Passes

In terms of key passes, Thiago has averaged 0.8 per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga this season. Liverpool's Henderson tops this list with 0.9 key passes per game followed by Keita (0.8), Fabinho, (0.7), Oxlade-Chamberlain (0.6), Wijnaldum (0.4) and Lallana (0.3).

Successful passing percentage

In terms of successful passing percentage per 90, Thiago and Wijnaldum stand equal with 90.5%. It is followed by Keita (88.6%), Fabinho (87%), Lallana (85.7%), Henderson (84.5%) and Oxlade-Chamberlain (83.5%).

Tackles per 90

Thiago's defensive work rate is also high, and has made 1.9 tackles per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga. However, steals the show in this section with 2.3 tackles per 90 although he plays in a much deeper role and it is a big factor for his upgrading.

Henderson comes next in this list with 2.1 followed by Keita (1.5), Lallana (1.3), Wijnaldum (1.0) and Oxlade-Chamberlain (0.6).

Interceptions per 90

Thiago's 1.9 interception per 90 is among all the players in this comparison. Only Henderson and Fabinho comes close to him with (1.3) and (1.2) interceptions per 90 respectively but the rest of the lot have pretty poor numbers. Oxlade-Chamberlain has (0.8), Keita (0.6), followed by Wijnaldum (0.5) and Lallana (0.3).

Going by the above data summary, it is clear the prospect of having Thiago in the side would be tempting for Klopp who might promptly improve the whole side. Given Liverpool need to maintain the same tempo next season also adding someone like Thiago would be another much-needed push for Liverpool.