Even down to the letters on the back of their jerseys, Bruno Fernandes and Enzo have many similarities.

Now these two midfielders are even in the same city. Sunday's Manchester derby will be the first direct confrontation between the two, after Enzo joined Manchester City from Chelsea for £125 million ($169 million) on transfer deadline day.

Both are highly creative individualists, and their passionate performances on the field have always been quite controversial. Since Enzo made his English top-flight debut in February 2023, no player has received more yellow cards for protesting to the referee than his 11. Yelling at the referee is also Bruno Fernandes's trademark, with the Manchester United player also talking himself into six yellow cards during the same period.

This shows that both are extremely competitive, and apparently both need a little emotional friction to ignite their creativity. But once they get going, almost no one can imitate their all-around playmaking style.

Last season, Bruno Fernandes broke the English top-flight assist record for a single season with 21 assists, clearly being more prolific in creating chances. The Portuguese international has created 235 chances since the start of the 2024-25 season, leading the league; Enzo is second with 147. However, on a per 90-minute basis, the Argentine is only ranked 18th.

However, chances and assists only reward the final pass of each attack. Beyond these finishing statistics, there are still many similarities in how the two create threats across the entire field.

Both possess the vision and technique to complete a large number of line-breaking passes. For those unfamiliar with this concept, these are passes that bypass a group of opposing players, whether completed between the attack, midfield, or defense. The example below shows a pass that bypasses both the midfield and defense.

The most prominent aspect of both players is the range of their line-breaking passes. The chart below shows passes delivered behind the defense and midfield. Both are among the top in delivering the ball into the space behind the opponent's midfield and in front of the defensive line, and both also frequently break through the last line to deliver the ball to teammates making late runs. Last season, Bruno Fernandes made 59 line-breaking passes, ranking first in the English top flight; Enzo was third with 55.

From Manchester City's perspective, Enzo's position on the chart relative to his new teammates is encouraging and suggests that the two should work well together. Manchester City manager Maresca intends to use Enzo as a deep-lying number six, and no midfielder last season was better at delivering the ball behind the opponent's midfield than he was. This means he can supply the ball to the more advanced Bruno Fernandes, who can then deliver those incisive passes behind Haaland for him to run onto.

Meanwhile, Bruno Fernandes took on almost all of Manchester United's creative duties last season, completing 131 line-breaking passes in his own half—47 more than Enzo—and only 8 more in the opponent's half. Enzo still possesses a very comprehensive line-breaking passing ability, but he is able to focus his energy more on his preferred left-sided half-space area. He is also very prolific in more central areas, with no one making more line-breaking passes than his 21 in the number 10 zone.

The key to both players often finding teammates between the lines is their quick thinking and execution, allowing them to deliver the ball before defenders can block the space. Bruno Fernandes's play is sometimes even a bit hurried. According to tracking data company SkillCorner, he attempted 712 one-touch passes last season, more than 100 more than any other English top-flight player, with Enzo ranking sixth with 514.

This tendency to take risks is the main difference between the two, and it is precisely the quality that makes them so suitable for their respective teams. Bruno Fernandes's one-touch pass success rate is 70%, while Enzo's is 76%. However, the Manchester United captain has a much heavier creative burden.

After Enzo reunites with former Chelsea manager Maresca at Manchester City, he will be more accustomed to a possession-based and more controlled tempo style of play, in which his relatively restrained creative approach is more suitable.

This contrast makes Bruno Fernandes seem more like the type of orchestrator who immediately catches the eye, but his new Manchester rival's creativity is not solely reflected in his on-ball actions. As The Athletic's Tom Harris wrote, few players make as many disruptive off-ball runs as Enzo.

One way to measure the value of such runs is to look at Expected Threat (xT). Simply put, it measures the probability of a shot occurring within the next 10 seconds. xT combines tracking data, considering ball position, teammate positions, and defender proximity, to estimate how dangerous an attack is.

Last season, Enzo's on-ball runs increased Chelsea's cumulative xT by 41.7, the highest value generated by any single English top-flight player, with Liverpool's Gakpo in second at 37.2. On a per 90-minute basis, the two are tied, with only Enzo's teammate Foden above them. This does not mean that these runs directly created that threat; as mentioned earlier, xT is calculated based on multiple factors, but Enzo's league-leading statistics indicate that his runs are always closely linked to threat.

In contrast, Bruno Fernandes's xT is only 25.5, ranking lower, which indicates that runs into the box are a smaller part of his game, and he focuses more on delivering more ambitious passes to Manchester United's advancing teammates.

Although Enzo's runs are more purposeful, he has only scored five non-penalty goals since joining Chelsea, three fewer than Bruno Fernandes in the same period. However, these runs often draw defenders away, creating valuable space for other Chelsea attackers, especially key player Palmer.

Leaving aside the precise data of line-breaking passes and off-ball runs, these two also have some intangible commonalities: both are passionate, never-give-up players. Others might shrink from the intense and noisy atmosphere of a Manchester derby, but they will only let their creative desires burn brighter.

Both will play with full commitment, even a touch of aggressiveness, with passionate shouts and constant encouragement, which are also part of the sharp antagonism in this historic rivalry.

But above this inevitable emotional drama, what is even more anticipated is the brilliant football brought by these two players. Their similarities go far beyond their names, and like the letters on the back of their jerseys, they still retain their unique individuality.

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