Wilfried Bony will line-up against his former club on Saturday as Manchester City welcome Swansea City to the Etihad.
The Ivorian faced the Swans in last season’s penultimate Premier League game, replacing Yaya Toure for the final five minutes. Bony netted the game’s last goal as City won 4-2 at the Liberty Stadium, securing their spot in this season’s Champions League group stages.
Bony will deputise for the injured Sergio Aguero following an impressive display by the 27-year-old against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions Leagues on Tuesday night. Bony scored one and assisted another two as City ran out 4-2 winners, topping their group in the process.
Fantasy football game www.oulala.com have analysed Bony’s key Premier League stats during his time at Swansea City and have compared them to his figures since he arrived at Manchester City for £25 million in January, 2014.
One key area of Bony’s game has taken a surprise dip, his presence in the air.
Oulala’s stats show that striker has won fewer duels in the air on a per game basis for Manchester City (1.6 to 2.8), which is echoed by the fact that none of the four league goals that he has scored for his new club have been with his head. In contrast, five of Bony’s 25 Premier League goals at Swansea were scored aerially.
Further stats from Oulala emphasise that the 27-year-old has lacked the attacking threat that he previously enjoyed at Swansea. The minutes that he has taken to score each of his goals is up from an average of 151 minutes per goal to 225 minutes. He has also experienced a drop in shots per game from 3.2 to 2.2.
His shot conversion-rate is down from 14 per cent to just 8 per cent and his shot accuracy has taken a dive from 49 per cent to 43 per cent.
The stats clearly show that Manchester CIty have failed to adapt their style when switching between Aguero and Bony to suit the Ivorian’s strengths. While Bony has the ability on the deck, the threat that he offers aerially has been underutilised by his new side.
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