Michael Owen is standing by his view that Raheem Sterling is a far better player than Mesut Ozil.

The pundit, who gets paid actual real cash money for his opinions, has already stated this twice and, when asked if he stood by his view that Sterling was better than Ozil after the Arsenal man created more chances in a single FA Cup game than anyone has ever done in the history of the competition (9) and Sterling did absolutely nothing, replied “Oh yes, definitely, I think so.

“That second goal will go down as an Ozil assist but it was all to do with Sanchez and the mistake.

“I think Ozil is a very good player and Arsenal, it’s ironic isn’t it, we’re talking about crisis at Arsenal, only a few months ago they were struggling around fourth, fifth, are they going to get into the top four? Knocked out of the Champions League, hanging on in the FA Cup, and it looks like they’re going to win the FA Cup now and looks like they’re going to come second in the league and will be a decent season for Arsenal. A very good season for Arsenal. It’s amazing how the game can change in the space of a month or so”

I’m pretty sure that’s not irony, Michael. Nor do I remember Arsenal ‘hanging on’ in the FA Cup. Then again, this is a man who said Arsenal wouldn’t finish in the top four, Liverpool would win the FA Cup and Ian Wright told us recently that he cares more about horses than football.

Anyway, let’s look at some figures, shall we?

In the Premier League this season, Sterling has played almost twice as much as Ozil who missed three months of the season with a knee injury so he outscores the German in all categories (key passes, chances created, assists, goals) but when you work it out on a ‘per 90‘ basis, you get a very different picture.

Key passes

Ozil 2.6

Sterling 1.9

Chances created

Ozil 2.9

Sterling 2.2

Assists

Ozil 0.3

Sterling 0.2

Goals

Ozil 0.3

Sterling 0.2

Passes

Ozil 61.7

Sterling 33.2

Forward passes

Ozil 34.9

Sterling 16.7

Successful passes

Ozil 53.7

Sterling 26.6

Average pass length (in case you think Ozil is just passing it over a much shorter distance than Sterling)

Ozil 13.81m

Sterling 14.53m

Blocks

Ozil 0.07

Sterling 0.07

Clearances

Ozil 0.4

Sterling 0.5

Interceptions

Ozil 0.5

Sterling 0.6

Overall (not per 90)

Pass completion

Ozil 87%

Sterling 80%

Duels won

Ozil 55.91%

Sterling 52.53%

But why let facts get in the way of an opinion, eh Michael?