Fekir vs Lemar: Who should Liverpool sign?

Liverpool have been linked with the transfer of Nabil Fekir and Thomas Lemar in the January window, but who should they sign?

HITC reported that fans want Fekir brought to the club from Lyon as a replacement for wantaway Philippe Coutinho, who is being heavily courted by Barcelona.

Meanwhile, the Mirror has written that Anfield bosses have made an approach for AS Monaco man Lemar as a direct replacement for Coutinho.

Liverpool will face competition for the Frenchman from a host of other clubs in the Premier League, wrote the newspaper.

But how do those two targets, the one supporters wants and the one the club wants, shape up to each other and which one should be brought to Merseyside?

From a analytical point of view, the good news is that they both play in the French first division Ligue 1. They’ve also made a similar amount of appearances, although Fekir has been on the pitch for 300 more minutes than Lemar.

So, from 15 games for Lyon, Fekir has scored 11 goals, assisted four more and created 30 chances. For a man who is being talked about as placing Coutinho, those are good numbers – although the Brazilian is more creative.

Meanwhile, Lemar poses less of a direct threat to goal and has only hit the back of the net twice all season. However, he is on a similar level when it comes to helping the team and also has four assists while making 26 chances.

Interestingly, when you compare all three player’s attack score on Squawka, Fekir is far and away the more potent player. He draws in a total of 705.14, while Coutinho manages 663.77 and Lemar a poor 184.21.

Bringing in a player from Ligue 1 to play such an important role is a bit of a risk. It’s a slightly weaker league, and anyway foreign players can take some time before they hit their best form.

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But on the evidence laid out, it would seen that Fekir would be the man to go for. He’s more of a goal threat and is just as creative as Lemar.