Actim Weekly Feature - Terry v Ferdinand

Actim Weekly Feature - Terry v Ferdinand

Come Sunday night the question which has dominated the Barclays English Premier League agenda for weeks could well have been answered.

Is this set to be Manchester United's season again?

The Red Devils travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea with the title on the line. Such is their superior goal difference that victory over their bitter rivals would effectively hand them the trophy.

Yet a win for Avram Grant's Blues would throw the race wide open once again, and with the teams level at the summit the momentum would have shifted to the Blues.

If ever two players were made for such an occasion, it is John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

The Actim Index, - the official player ratings system for the Barclays English Premier League - show that Ferdinand, who has been standing in as skipper for the injured Gary Neville, has racked up an impressive 506 points so far and sits in 12th place overall in the Index. In 2924 minutes on the pitch he has won an impressive 33 tackles while he has lost just six.

Terry is not far behind, having won 30 tackles and lost nine, but by comparison that haul is hugely impressive when you consider that Terry has played just 1806 minutes due to injury. During that time he has scored a total of 290 points, which puts him in 94th place overall.

Ferdinand rates more highly on clearances - with 52 so far, exactly double the number of his rival. He has three interceptions compared to Terry's 11, while the United man wins in terms of number blocks completed - 17 to 12.

Ferdinand, however, just shades it with an average individual match score of 16 points per game, eclipsing the 15 for his rival.

Meanwhile, on the rest of the Index, Cristiano Ronaldo is home and dry at the top of the rankings but good weeks for Aston Villa's Ashley Young (67 points against Birmingham) and Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz (24 points against Manchester United) have seen them settle in fourth and fifth place respectively.

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.