Van de Beek vs Mount: Who will win out in free-scoring midfielder battle?

There’s no doubt this evening’s clash between Ajax and Chelsea promises to be an entertaining affair between two attacking young teams, and no two players symbolise both traits more so than Donny van de Beek and Mason Mount.

The former was heavily linked to Real Madrid over the summer having starred for the Eredivisie champions en route to the title, as well as a Champions League semi-final, and he is the type of player Mount can certainly aspire to.

The Chelsea graduate spent a very successful season in the Netherlands himself, of course, and that 2017/18 campaign was also the one in which Van de Beek really made his mark.

The two youngsters earned near identical WhoScored.com ratings that season, not least due to their goalscoring prowess from midfield, with the Dutchman edging the scores 7.40 to 7.38.

It was Mount that found the net more often (14 to 11) and registered more assists (nine to six) but Van de Beek was perhaps the more complete midfielder at the time, and that arguably remains the case.

That said, the pair are among the most directly comparable players in the Champions League given their playing styles and tendency to pick up goalscoring positions from midfield. Mount has four goals across 11 league and Champions League appearances this season to Van de Beek’s three from nine, but the latter has registered five assists in that time, where the Blues star is yet to get off the mark.

It’s that improved end product that, right now, gives the Ajax man the edge over his midfield counterpart, but Mount is two years younger and will hope to hit the heights this season that Van de Beek did last. He couldn’t ask for a better mentor in Frank Lampard, while the chance to take on his opposite number in Amsterdam could offer the best indicator yet as to the level that Mount finds himself is at.

Chelsea as a whole will no doubt be using Ajax as an example to follow this season in Europe. This is an opportunity to see just how close Frank Lampard’s side are behind last year’s surprise package, if at all. The battle between two of the most exciting goalscoring midfielders on the continent, each epitomising their respective sides, could be pivotal to that particular outcome.