Fellaini v Diame

How the two midfielders match up ahead of Wigan v Everton.

Ahead of a tough clash with Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on Saturday, we decided to look at a potential battle in the middle of the park in our latest Head-to-Head feature.

Marouane Fellaini and Mohamed Diame have both made their mark as authoritative midfield figures since their Premier League arrivals in 2008 and 2009 respectively. And with Fellaini having been utilised deeper this season in particular, both men now play similar roles within their teams.

Using our new stats tool, we can see how the duo match up across league and domestic cup fixtures this season – and the results are interesting.

In finding the net with the header that put Everton into the fifth round of the FA Cup last week, Fellaini took his goalscoring tally for the season to three. Diame, meanwhile, has contributed just two goals to Wigan's total.

These strikes are reflective of the duo's respective attempts on goal. Our Belgian international has been in position to get 21 of his 36 shots on target, whereas French-born Senegalese international Diame has a weaker ratio of 11 on target from 22 shots.

Additionally in the attacking stakes, Fellaini boasts two assists to Diame's one.

Protecting the back four and their goalkeeper is key to both players’ game, however. As a result, the midfielders each claim two vital blocks, though Fellaini has made 17 clearances to Diame's six.

Interestingly, Everton manager David Moyes was recently asked about Fellaini's progression as a player this season and the Scot shed light on his new role in the side.

He said: "He's playing differently than he did. We played him much higher, much further forward than before. He scored a lot of goals but folk used to say he should be playing deep.

“He's now playing deep and now people are saying he's not scoring enough goals. It's always the way, whatever you do. Of course we'd like him to score goals and he came up with a great one against Fulham."

See the stats for yourself here, and remember you can then compare your favourite Everton player to any other in the Barclays Premier League. Have a go and tell us what interesting comparisons you can find.

*Stats provided by the Press Association.