Tuesday 14 February 2017 08:08, UK
Who will win the midfield battle between Bournemouth's Jack Wilshere and Manchester City's Yaya Toure on Monday Night Football? We check the stats...
Wilshere joined the Cherries last summer on loan from Arsenal in a move that was motivated by a desire to play. With 14 games of the season remaining, this has already been vindicated.
He has already played nearly twice as many minutes in the Premier League for Bournemouth this season (1525) compared to the previous two seasons combined with the Gunners (873).
Since making his Bournemouth debut in the 1-0 win against West Brom in September, he has missed only two Premier League games, both against Arsenal when he was ineligible.
He has completed 90 minutes in each of his last 13 starts for Bournemouth, the same number of full games that he completed in his previous three years at Arsenal.
Despite hitting the woodwork five times this season, a Premier League goal has eluded him. He has, however, been one of Bournemouth's most creative forces, creating a club-high 29 chances and making 73 dribbles, which is only bettered by Joshua King.
One of the most surprising storylines of the season has been Toure's renaissance at City and his re-emergence as a vital part of their hugely talented squad.
Exiled for the opening 11 Premier League games due to comments made by his agent against Guardiola, the 33-year-old Ivorian has made up for lost time with a string of strong performances in City's midfield.
Since scoring twice in his first Premier League game of the season at Crystal Palace on November 19, Toure has scored more goals, made the most passes and had more touches than any other City player.
He has also completed 801 of his 886 Premier League passes with a passing accuracy of 90 per cent, a figure bettered only by defender John Stones who has a passing accuracy of 94 per cent but has played 450 fewer passes.
He has also improved the defensive side of his game this season. He has made 20 tackles in the Premier League since being recalled, the joint-most for City in their last 13 games. He is also working harder with his distance run per game (11.3km) and sprints per game (27.2) higher than his average in the last campaign.
Despite operating in a deeper role this season, Toure has still managed to find the net six times in all competitions, with four of the goals coming in the Premier League.
Worryingly for Bournemouth, all of Toure's goals this season have been scored away from the Etihad Stadium. Toure's tally of 61 Premier League goals is more than any other midfielder since he made his debut in 2010.
