Villa’s Actim ace is Gunner be great

After Gabriel Agbonlahor pledged his future to Aston Villa amidst reported interest from Arsenal, the Actim Index - the official player ratings system of the Barclays Premier League - looks at how he shapes up alongside Gunners hotshot Emmanuel Adebayor.

The 21-year-old England Under-21 star has enjoyed a sparkling campaign so far with five league goals to his credit against seven Premier League strikes for the Togo international.

The pair are running virtually neck and neck in this season's Actim Index, Adebayor in seventh place with 210 points and Agbonlahor three places back with 204.

It's an impressive return for Martin O'Neill's youngster, who has seen his goals come from just 14 shots on target and 10 off.

Adebayor is just as lethal, scoring almost a goal for almost every two shots on target.

They are well-matched in other departments also, Adebayor responsible for nine dribbles to his rival's 14 but having just five crosses to Agbonlahor's nine.

The Gunner does, however, have the highest score of the season between the two, earning 56 points during his side's defeat of Derby back in September, Agbonlahor's highest so far this term coming with 40 points in the 2-0 victory over Chelsea earlier that month.

Rumours have persisted the country's top clubs are eyeing a £15million swoop for his services but Agbonlahor said: 'I'm flattered to hear things like being linked with Arsenal, but it's pure speculation.

'I'm playing for my hometown club, things are going really well and I'm happy at Villa.'

The Actim Index is calculated using a unique mathematical formula that rates each player’s contribution be it goals, shots, passes, dribbles, tackles, crosses, saves, clearances, blocks, interceptions, assists, clean sheets, time on the pitch or number of points gained by the team with marks deducted for red and yellow cards.

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