Ryan Hardie v Luke Jephcott at Plymouth Argyle: Who has the better stats?

Plymouth Argyle are currently flying high in League One as they look to secure a return to the Championship for the first time since 2010, and there’s a number of reasons for that.

Despite Ryan Lowe’s departure to Preston North End in December, there has been a level of continuity with his assistant Steven Schumacher stepping in as his replacement and he’s kept the exact same system in place.

It also helps when you have players at the top end of the pitch who can score, and in Ryan Hardie and Luke Jephcott, Schumacher has two strikers who know where the back of the net is.

Both had different journeys into Plymouth’s first-team – Hardie was an external purchase having arrived on loan from Blackpool before going on to be acquired permanently by the Pilgrims, whilst Wales under-21 international Jephcott came through the academy.

How do their stats compare though to each other during the 2021-22 season? Let’s take a look.

The most important stat of course is goals scored, and this season it’s Hardie who is trumping his strike partner after a quiet 2020-21 season.

After scoring just five times last season, the Scot is on 16 goals for the campaign in 35 appearances, which is better than Jephcott’s nine goals in 34 outings – although he still has time to match his tally of 16 goals from the previous campaign.

Hardie is also out-assisting Jephcott at the moment with five assists to four, but as for their detailed statistics they are very similar players it appears.

HARDIE: 2.57 shots per game, 1.38 dribbles per game, 8.12 offensive duels per game, 4.75 touches in opposition penalty area per game, 5.15 aerial duels per game

JEPHCOTT: 2.28 shots per game, 1.38 dribbles per game, 7.78 offensive duels per game, 4.34 touches in