Firstly we compared games played from the 20/21 season and all players had played a similar amount of games except for Ndidi as he had an injury between September 2020 and December 2020. We also looked at the players' Goals/Assists for the whole season and Casemiro and Skhiri had the most contribution among everyone. Although this should not be the benchmark for a defensive midfielder, it surely shows how versatile these players are and how much they contribute to their team.

For a defensive midfielder, it is important for the players to be able to control the tempo of the game. In terms of attacking, we looked at how each player is able to contribute by looking at the count of forward passes, and defensively, we compared the number of tackles and interceptions made.

The chart below plots each player in their respective colours and the grey are other midfielders across Europe. As seen below, Skhiri (red) is well balanced defensive midfielder being on the most upper right among all six players. Casemiro (grey) is expected to have more forward passes as his team, Real Madrid is more inclined to be the attacking team. Meanwhile, Ndidi (blue) is to be considered to be the most defensive among the six midfielders as he makes fewer forward passes.

Looking at all six midfielders, it is quite apparent most of them are quite well balanced in their position but still have their own style of play. Defensive midfielders are an important position in modern football as they are expected to be able to read the game both defensively and offensively but still rely on the team’s overall tactic to be able to fully utilise the player.