Jeando Fuchs has already carved out a niche as a Dundee United cult hero with his energetic displays in the heart of midfield.
Dylan Levitt is new to the scene having just arrived on loan from Manchester United.
At just 20, he already has ten full caps for Wales and plays with the maturity of an experienced pro.
Levitt came into his own on Sunday during an impressive 45-minute run out and was ably assisted by an outstanding Fuchs.
Individually, they have talent.
Collectively, they have the keys to the ignition of a Dundee United midfield engine room.
Here, Courier Sport analyses the Opta stats on the midfield duo from Dundee United’s ‘Beautiful Sunday’ win over Dundee.
Jeando Fuchs – The passing enforcer
Fuchs made his breakthrough at Ligue 1 side Sochaux aged 16 in 2014.
Now 23, Fuchs has racked up some impressive Scottish Premiership stats this term.
With 11 interceptions to his name, he is second only to Aberdeen’s Scott Brown.
With 186 passes, he is 13th out of the 40 top flight midfielders in terms of ball retention.
But it was Fuchs’ stats from Sunday’s derby that underline how important he is to United.
Fuchs was the most accurate midfielder on the park at Tannadice, ahead of Dundee’s Max Anderson on distribution.
He had a passing completion rate of 88.9% and found a United shirt with 32 of his 36 attempted passes.
Those passes were the conduit for United attacks – including a diving header in the build-up to Ian Harkes’ winning goal.
An impressive 28 passes came in the Dundee half as United stamped their authority on the game.
The goal starts fae a Jeando Fuchs diving heeder. He needs appreciated massively for all he does n' did today. pic.twitter.com/Iy50Sz7ehI
— SHEDHEDS 🇮🇹🏴 (@shedheds) September 20, 2021
Dylan Levitt – The Welsh water carrier
Levitt didn’t start the game as Tam Courts rightly showed loyalty to Calum Butcher.
Butcher is the only player in the United side to have played in both 6-2 Dundee derby wins.
But with Anderson turning in an impressive first-half display and Butcher walking a red card tightrope, the United man was hooked and replaced by Levitt.
Levitt does not have the physical presence of Butcher and has, thus far, been deployed in a deep-lying midfield position for United.
It’s the kind of ‘water carrier’ role that France manager Didier Deschamps made famous during a glittering playing career.
Levitt’s introduction into the play transformed the tempo of the derby.
He was extremely calm under pressure with a passing accuracy of 83.7%.
And despite coming on as sub, Levitt was second only to team-mate Scott McMann in overall passes.
He also made the most completed passes – 36 – as he cranked up the ignition of the Dundee United engine room alongside Fuchs.