Why Man City have the best No.2 in European football right now

Our countdown continues to build the ultimate Christmas advent calendar squad.

What’s that? You have no idea what a ‘Christmas advent calendar squad’ is? Well that’s because we completely made it up, but either way, here’s the definition: Squawka is building a combined 25-man based on shirt numbers, revealing one player every day from 1st December right up till 25th.

Up for grabs today is the number two spot. We’ve hand-picked some of the best choices throughout Europe and whittled them down to our top three. Not an easy thing to do but we’ll do it anyway!

Here are Squawka’s top three in reverse order.

3. Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain)

What makes him special? The talented full-back clearly makes a massive difference when he is in the Madrid starting eleven. His performances helped his side win yet another Champions League trophy and all-in-all there are very few wingers who can best Carvajal’s sensational ability.

Key stat: Dani Carvajal has eight Champions League assists across the past two full campaigns, the most of any defender.

2. Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid/Uruguay)

What makes him special? Godin was a man mountain as Atletico managed to continue Spanish dominance on the European stage, winning the Europea League in impressive style. A solid World Cup campaign with Uruguay allowed the 32-year-old to establish himself on the world stage as one of the best centre-backs in world football. A great 2018 for Godin.

Key stat: Godin averaged 4.7 and 5.4 interceptions for Atletico in La Liga and the Europa League respectively.

1. Kyle Walker (Manchester City/England)

What makes him special? Kyle Walker moved to City to win trophies and last season they did just that. Fantastic performances week-in-week-out, a Premier League title won with ease, a contributor to some beautiful football under Pep Guardiola, the 100 points total, an English Football Cup triumph and a successful transition to centre-back under Gareth Southgate for England, reaching the semi-finals. The best year of Walker’s career.

Key stat: No Premier League full-back has played more successful passes than Kyle Walker (2,816) since the start of last season.

Honourable mentions

Some great options here with some coming close to cracking the top three. Here are the best of the rest: Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea/Germany), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur/England), Hector Bellerin (Arsenal/Spain), Nelson Semedo (Benfica/Portugal), Dan-Axel Zagadou (Borussia Dortmund/France), Sime Vrsaljko (Inter Milan (on-loan from Atletico Madrid)/Croatia), Mattia de Sciglio (Juventus/Italy), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain/Brazil) and Sandro Wagner (Bayern Munich/Germany).

The post Squawka’s Xmas advent squad: who’s the best No.2 in Europe? appeared first on Squawka News.

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