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Sporting's Khiry Shelton and Roger Espinoza among the best duelers in MLS

Duel success rate is a stat that's a favorite of a lot of soccer coaches, not just in MLS, but many you'll talk to across the world.

Opta defines a duel as a "50-50 contest between two players of opposing sides in the match. For every Duel Won, there is a corresponding Duel Lost depending on the outcome of a contest."

In era where attacking players get most of the statistical love, duels are one thing to look at when trying to assess the effectiveness of a player on the defensive side of the ball.

There were only two weeks of action this MLS season before the league went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that's enough duels to give a preliminary look at who were some of the top performers in that area in MLS through two games.