Kerala Blasters' Adrian Luna or Jamshedpur FC's Greg Stewart - Who performed better in the league stage in ISL?

In their last game against Chennaiyin FC, Kerala Blasters had a hard time breaking down the Marina Machans in the first half. The match was clamouring for some magic and it was none other than Adrian Luna who came up with a special touch to break the deadlock. He cushioned the free-kick floated in by Harmanjot Khabra in the path of Jorge Pereyra Diaz and the Tuskers had their nose in front. In the dying embers of the game, his swerving free-kick rippled the net after taking a wicked deflection and that sealed the match in favour of Blasters.

It was one of those numerous instances when Luna-magic guided Kerala Blasters home. He made the left-midfield position his own and was a livewire in the wide areas with his pace, skills, and trickery. However, Ivan Vukomanovic's front-four of Alvaro Vazquez, Sahal Samad, Diaz and Luna showed seamless fluidity and each of them would exchange positions with such ease that made it extremely difficult for the opposition to defend against them.

If Luna was the torch-bearer for Blasters, Greg Stewart was the driving force behind Jamshedpur FC. His bending free-kick against Blasters captured the imagination of not only Indian fans but also football aficionados on foreign shores. His presence in the attacking third infused life in Jamshedpur's attack as he scored goals and at the same time created scoring opportunities for his fellow teammates.

In their last match against ATK Mohun Bagan, Stewart was the real deal for the Red Miners as the was the architect behind Ritwik Das' strike, that brought the Marines to their knees. The Scottish carried the ball forward, drew out Tiri from his position with a dummy shot and it was this trick that provided Das with the breathing space to shoot.

The former Rangers-man who had been lucky to train under Steven Gerrard has been a stellar pick by Owen Coyle. His hat-trick against Odisha FC in December cleared any doubt whatsoever about his class and quality. His first goal was a right-footed piledriver from outside the box, his second an audacious Messi-esque left-footed free-kick, while the third had clinical brilliance written all over it.

Both Luna and Stewart have been consistent with their performances and have popped up on most occasions when their team needed them the most. One has to be a cymini sector to determine the better of the two. Hence, we prepare a detailed statistical table to find out the winner between the two.

From the above metrics, it is abundantly clear that Stewart has edged Luna in the league stages of ISL. With a goal contribution per 79.05 minutes, he is one of the most lethal players in attack. The former Rangers FC man has more passing accuracy as well than Luna. However, the Uruguayan has performed better while pressing and closing down on defenders. Both the coaches like to stop the opposition central defenders from playing out from the back and hence the forwards play a crucial role. Luna with 121 recoveries to his name has performed better defensively than Stewart.

All said and done, these numbers will take a backseat when Kerala Blasters clash against Jamshedpur on Friday. Both sets of players will give their all for the crest in front of their shirt with the hope of having an advantage before the return leg. And needless to say that all eyes will be on Luna and Stewart.