just a few months ago, there is a lot of talent hidden away in not-so-strong teams. Today we're focusing on three underrated players in the competition: three men who are performing above what is suggested by factors such as their market value or their fame, even if these are hardly tangible.
The first of them is
and in his position there are few players so difficult to overcome in one-on-one situations. He has a 72% success rate in tackling. In this graph we have compared his numbers to those of midfielders who have played at least 900 minutes in the French championship this year.
He doesn't have good creative numbers in terms of dribbles or trough balls. But the truth is that it is difficult to stand out on the opposing half in an offensively limited team like Reims. Nevertheless, it must be said that Chavalerin is not a bad player with the ball. He misses very few passes in the own half (92%) and only suffers 0.43 steals for 90 minutes. His high average of chances created is because of the his condition of set-pieces taker.
Our next name is
, an accumulated amount that is only exceeded by three players in the Ligue 1 (Di María, Payet and Mbappé).
This year Ferhat is being less productive on the set-piece, but
and his vision in the last pass he should have a place in a superior team.
Another player who seems ready to make a competitive leap is
generated by his team, taking part in the build up of 0.32 per 90 minutes.
On the other hand, supported by his physical qualities and with a little more experience at the first level, Djiku has become a very powerful player in
. He wins 67% of his aerial duels and the rival attackers just manage to overcome him 11% of the times they attempt it. We're talking about a really promising defender who has also played nearly 600 minutes as a pivot this season. The radar we see, however, belongs exclusively to the 1,634 he has played as a centre-back.
This space could also be occupied by players like the Rennes' complete right-back
(Angers), who is among Ligue 1 midfielders who make more ball progressions and is still a significant threat from the corner.
We are
.
