Jean Michael Seri hasn't been included in Fulham's PL squad this season (Getty Images)
Liverpool have made the best possible start to their Premier League campaign with five wins out of five and the Reds still boast of a perfect record under Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool’s high-intensity football has been a treat to watch and they are on the right track to mount a significant challenge for the Premier League crown this season.
While Liverpool seemed like title contenders even before the start of the season, Fulham were expected to fight for their survival in the Premier League, following a successful season in the Championship. But the Cottagers haven’t disappointed their fans. Although they haven’t been as clinical and consistent as the top teams, Slavisa Jokanovic’s men have shown plenty of character in their first five games.
Klopp was on a spending spree in the summer, making him the highest-spending manager in England. The manager signed the likes of Naby Keita, Alisson Becker, Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho. Until now, all of his new signings, barring Fabinho, have made an instantaneous impact.
Similarly, Jokanovic brought in a lot of reinforcements to bolster his squad. Fulham made headlines in the transfer market with the mega-money signings of Aleksandar Mitrovic (loan deal made permanent), Jean Michael Seri and Andre Schurrle.
Out of the summer recruits for Fulham and Liverpool, two players have been standout performers for their respective teams – Naby Keita and Jean Michael Seri. Both were brought in to add substance and solidity to the midfield and they have been top-notch so far.
While Keita has played a key role for Liverpool in the centre of the park with his all-around abilities, Seri has been Fulham’s heartbeat. To put things into perspective, Keita’s performances have forced Jordan Henderson to start from the bench in most of the Premier League games.
In Keita, Liverpool have found a more balanced central midfielder when compared to Henderson. The Guinean has read the game well in the midfield, breaking up play and cutting out the opposition’s attacks with crucial tackles and interceptions.
Furthermore, he has helped the team in counter-attacking situations with surging runs forward. His presence has allowed the likes of James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum to drift wide and link up with the forward line.
Now, let us make a detailed comparison of Keita and Seri according to the statistics.
Keita has averaged 51.3 passes per game in the Premier League so far, with a pass success percentage of 88.8. Meanwhile, Seri boasts of an average of 76.8 passes per game with a success percentage of 90.9.
There is little to choose between the two based on that but a more detailed analysis shows that Seri has had a more profound impact in the attacking third as compared to Keita. To go along with his remarkable pass success rate, Seri averages 2 key passes and 5.5 successful long balls per game as compared to Keita’s 0.8 key passes and 0.8 long balls per match. Furthermore, Seri already has a goal and an assist to his name so far.
There is not much of a difference if we look at their defensive contributions but Seri just about edges out Keita yet again. While the Ivorian has managed 2.3 tackles, 1.8 interceptions and 0.5 blocks in the midfield, Keita has matched Seri in terms of tackles (2.3 per game) but has fallen behind in terms of interceptions and blocks. The Guinean only averages 0.5 interceptions and 0.3 blocks per game.
To sum it up in simple words, both the midfielders have been pivotal to their teams’ successes but the man from Ivory Coast, Jean Michael Seri, has managed to make more of an impact.
