Battle of the midfield militia: What to expect when Sandro and Tiote collide

If the football pitch is a battlefield, then it’s the likes of Tottenham’s Sandro and Newcastle United’s Cheick Tioté who can be considered as being among the fiercest warriors out there.

The midfield militia of their respective outfits, it’s this pair in particular who will decide an essential tussle come this Sunday’s Premier League encounter between the two sides.

In the absence of the injured Fabricio Coloccini, Alan Pardew has made Tioté the captain of his side, a role he’s thrived upon since being handed the armband. In no encounter was this boost more evident than in last weekend’s shock 2-0 victory over Chelsea, where the Ivory Coast international patrolled the centre of the pitch.

Despite having a reputation as a defensive midfielder, it was Tioté’s finer qualities that shone through against the Blues, his Performance Score of 19 being outweighed by a passing accuracy of 95%, two interceptions and three clearances.

By the numbers, Sandro has been outshone by his Newcastle counterpart in every aspect this term, albeit only making three starts. His passing accuracy of 81% is inferior, he’s averaged only two defensive actions per game compared to Tioté’s four and is yet to create a single scoring opportunity.

In that sense, the Brazilian is far closer to what one would expect from your typical midfield anchor. In his 60-minute showing against Everton, Sandro barely ventured outside of his own half and displayed a very finite set of skills, something that’s useful in restricting the opposition but not when Spurs are shy of goals and are striving to open up—and rightly so.

Even in his three starts of late, however, Sandro hasn’t taken care of the physical end of things as one might expect. He’s made just six tackles attempts this, winning five.

An average of two attempts per game may not seem bad, but when that’s compared with Tiote winning 19 of the 28 attempted in eight outings this season, the individual differences seem all the clearer.

Perhaps as a result of the company they keep, the two are having different campaigns despite sharing common ground in terms of style. For this weekend, at least, it’s the Magpies’ incumbent leader who looks the superior of the two and a more versatile asset—going forward as well as in defence.

Newcastle may be considered underdogs for their trip to North London, but if recent form holds up, they can at least rely upon one engine-room encounter going in their favour.