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Soccer

STATS: Argentina and Germany's strengths and weaknesses

You can listen to our Team 33 preview of the World Cup final or download via iTunes. It's within...



STATS: Argentina and Germany&#...
Soccer

STATS: Argentina and Germany's strengths and weaknesses

You can listen to our Team 33 preview of the World Cup final or download via iTunes.

It's within touching distance now!

But will it be Lionel Messi lifting the World Cup trophy or Philippe Lahm confirming Germany's place at the top of global football's top table?

We'll only know that at midnight on Sunday, assuming that the final goes to extra time and maybe even penalties.

But what can the stats tells us about both teams' strengths and weaknesses?

Despite  being involved in a few dour games, Squawka's statistics actually show that Argentina (79) are the leading chance creators at the World Cup and have fashioned more chances than Germany.

However Germany are more clinical in that regards, scoring more often - granted the 7 - 1 win over Brazil helped - but also providing eight more assists than the Albiceleste.

They have also been more likely to score from inside the box with 16 of their 17 goals coming that way, compared to Argentina who have seen three of their five shots arriving from outside the box - all long-rangers from Messi in the group stage.

But Germany are the most likely to score from set pieces with six goals coming from that source - five from corners. They have won 56 per cent of their aerial duels which ranks them fourth at the World Cup compared to Alejandro Sabella's side who have won 51 per cent of their battles in the air.

Meawhile, away from the stats, there are a number of interesting battle grounds at pitch level to look out for.

Will Argentina right back Pablo Zabaleta exploit the space left behind by Mesut Ozil in order to get at out-of-position left-back Benedickt Howedes?

And will Lionel Messi drift into that zone as he so often does?

Angel Di Maria may not be fit enough to start, but will his replacement Enzo Perez he be tasked with picking up Philippe Lahm, similarly to how he was closest to Holland's Dirk Kuyt during the semi-final.

And how will Germany try to stop Messi? Will it be zonal or will Bastian Schweinsteiger or Sami Khedira be tasked with trying to be his shadow? 

These are all issues we discussed with Deutsche Welle's Matt Hermann and Buenos Aires Herald's Dan Edwards on Team 33 which you can listen to above.

All stats are courtesy of statistics website Squawka. Learn more about Squawka and the free app by clicking here.

 

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