Statistical Preview: Manchester City travel to Aston Villa

A solitary goal from Libor Kozak saw Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert to a 1-0 victory against former side Norwich last weekend.

Fabian Delph continues to showcase his defensive versatility this season. No Villa player has made more successful tackles (23) and he’s done so with an excellent success rate of 71.9%.

Villa fans everywhere will be hoping that Christian Benteke makes a swift return from injury given the Belgian’s potency in front of goal. So far he is the only Villa player to have established a shot accuracy rate of greater than 50% (77.8%).

Captain Ron Vlaar continues to lead from the front for Villa this season, turning in some solid work at the back. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index he’s made a squad-leading 57 defensive contributions this term (blocks, successful tackles, clearances and interceptions).

A quite stunning performance from Manchester City saw them dismantle fierce rival Manchester United in a 4-1 win at the Etihad. Goals from Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure and a brace from Sergio Aguero gave Manuel Pellegrini’s side the bragging rights in the Chilean’s first Manchester Derby.

Edin Dzeko has looked revitalized under the new regime at the Etihad, yet his stats suggest there is still more to come from City’s frontman. Despite clearly rediscovering his confidence he still only has a 50% shot accuracy rate from his 12 attempts strikes on goal so far this season. More goals surely can’t be far off is he manages to boost this to the levels City fans know he can reach.  Dzeko is 11/2 with 888sport.com to score at any time this weekend.

Yaya Toure has once again established himself as an indomitable force in the City midfield, with a couple of impressive displays in recent outings showing that he will likely be key to Manuel Pellegrini’s plans. According to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Yaya has the second highest total of passes completed in the opponent’s half of any player in the league with 191.

Everyone knows of Pablo Zabaleta’s love for rampaging up the flanks when given the opportunity, but it is his consistency at the back which affords him the licence to do so. He is City’s top defender so far this season, with an excellent 85.7% success rate from his squad-leading 28 attempted challenges.