De Bruyne v Hazard: Brilliant Belgians go head to head

Eden Hazard this week said Kevin De Bruyne has been “on fire” since signing for Man City, one of two teams along with Liverpool who he believes can rival Chelsea for the title.

See: Hazard: De Bruyne can fire Man City to title

Which of the brilliant Belgians has the better of afternoons in Saturday’s 12.30pm GMT kick-off could have huge ramifications in the race to win the Premier League. 

City will be hoping to knock Chelsea off of top spot and in order to do so they will need to exploit De Bruyne’s supply line.

The Belgian leads the Premier League for assists (seven) this season, having created 35 chances – second only to Dimitri Payet of West Ham United.

This eclipses Hazard’s tally of one assist from 26 chances created.

The Chelsea winger’s best work has instead come directly in front of goal, as he heads to the Etihad Stadium as the top-scoring PL midfielder in 2016/17, with seven strikes.

This is five more than De Bruyne’s two goals, despite attempting only one more shot than the Man City midfielder this season (36 to 35).