Defending champions Manchester City travel to Elland Road to take on Leeds United in the English Premier League. The defending champions are trailing Arsenal in their fight for the league title and have lost a bit of ground on Mikel Arteta’s men. Leeds United, on the other hand, are in the bottom half of the table. They struggled at the start of the season, but a few recent victories have lifted the mood in the camp.
Leeds United have won four, drawn three, and lost seven matches this season. The team has scored 22 goals with an average xG rate of 1.4. The defence has leaked 26 goals, and the average xG rate is 1.4.
Manchester City, on the other hand, have won ten, drawn two, and lost two matches this season. The defending champions are the highest goal scorers in the league with 40 in total and conceded 14. They average 2.17 xG and 0.91 xGA per match.
Both teams having different ambitions this season. We now look at some of the stats that could predict the outcome of the match.
Manchester City have been the top performer in the league this season. Pep’s men like to keep hold of the ball and create chances in the match. The viz above compares the percentile rank of these two teams to the other clubs in the league as well as to each other. It can be observed that the Citizens have the highest percentile rank in almost every department. Leeds United, on the other hand, are ranked decently. They have a high percentile rank in recovering the ball.
Leeds United at home
Leeds United are not great performers at home, but their stats have been better at home. The team has won three, drawn two, and lost two matches at home. They have scored 12 goals with an average xG of 1.68 and conceded nine with an xGA of 1.26. Overall, the team averages 30.5 positional attacks and 2.21 counterattacks per match. At home, the average increases slightly to 32 positional attacks and 2.29 counterattacks. They take 11.43 shots and have an accuracy rate of 36.8%.
The defence has conceded only nine goals at home and 17 on the road in the same number of matches played. The first viz shows the defensive territory for the season. They won 65.1% of defensive duels and 47% of aerial duels. The team also intercepts 45.36 passes per 90 minutes. At home, the record is a bit similar. The second image shows the blocks made by the team this season. They average around three blocks per match, and against City, the defenders need to be on their toes.
Manchester City on their travels
Leeds United will have a difficult time containing this City side. The league’s top scorer averaged 36.14 positional attacks and 2.14 counterattacks per match. They take 16.8 shots and have an accuracy rate of 36.4%. On their travels, Manchester City attempts 37.17 positional attacks and 1.17 counterattacks. They take 15 shots from these attacks and have an accuracy rate of 36.7%. The above viz shows that City players like to get the ball inside the penalty box and score goals from clear chances. They will look to improve their tally of just ten goals in six away games.
Key players
The Norwegian striker is the league’s highest goal-scorer. He has 18 goals to his name already this season and will look to add more. Erling Haaland averages around four shots per match. He was fresh during the World Cup break and will be the main threat for Pep’s side.
Team news
Leeds United have a few injury concerns in their camp. Illan Meslier is a doubt alongside Patrick Bamford, Crysencio Summerville, Rodrigo, Liam Cooper, and Jack Harrison.
Manchester City will be without former Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Ruben Dias is also out with an injury, and Julian Alvarez is yet to join the squad.
The visitors will go in as the favourites to take three points from this game. They are third in the league table and will go second with three points. Leeds United have a massive test at home, and they will have to be at their best if they want any point from this match.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
