Manchester City are trailing Arsenal by five points in the English Premier League. The defending champions were looking for their third consecutive league title. However, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal showed massive improvements from the previous seasons and are becoming serious contenders to lift the title. Manchester City also started the season on a high as their new striker Erling Haaland netted a few goals to keep his side closer to Arsenal in the league table. He was assisted by their playmaker, Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian was creating and scoring goals. However, his form has dipped, and that has also affected his team. Manchester City have failed to close the gap on Arsenal, and they need their star man to step up his game once again. We now look at some of the stats that show why De Bruyne needs to show his early-season form.
A mixed season
Kevin De Bruyne has made 25 appearances for Manchester City in the English Premier League. The Belgian has scored four times and assisted 12 times. By looking at the above viz, we can observe that the 31-year-old has spent 80% of Manchester City’s available minutes on the field. He is ranked highly among other right-sided central midfielders in the attacking and possession departments. Kevin De Bruyne is more of a number ten than a right-central midfielder.
The Belgian had nine assists and three goals in the first 12 games. Since then, he has only scored once and assisted three times in 13 league games. The numbers clearly state how the form of the player has dipped. Manchester City have lost three and drawn two in the next 12 matches that De Bruyne has featured in. Earlier, they only lost once and drew in two matches.
Why the numbers in the end product have dipped?
As mentioned above, Kevin De Bruyne has seen a massive dip in his numbers. He has only four goal contributions in the last 13 games.
Kevin De Bruyne is known for his creativity on the field. He still has the highest number of assists in the league. However, the numbers could have been higher, but the player has failed to produce his early-season magic lately. The 31-year-old has provided 64 shot assists in the current season. Of these 64 shot assists, 35 came in the first 12 matches. By looking at the above viz, we can observe that De Bruyne has not been active on corner duties lately. However, his assists from corners have been few this season. Most of his assists were passes delivered into the penalty box, especially near the six-yard box. Lately, these numbers have also dropped, and this has resulted in a poor run.
Another reason why the numbers have dropped is De Bruyne’s inability to find his teammate with crosses. The Belgian player attempted 6.5 crosses per 90 minutes and had a 36.8% success rate. Lately, the numbers have dipped and the accuracy rate from the left side is also affected. Kevin De Bruyne has failed to deliver the crosses accurately enough.
Another area of concern for the player is his inability to score goals this season. He netted 15 goals last season and this season he has only scored four goals. In the last 13 matches, De Bruyne has only managed to score a single goal. One of the reasons behind the such poor form is his inability to take shots from inside the penalty box. De Bruyne has a pretty low xG rate per shot due to long-range efforts attempted by him.
Betting analysis
Manchester City are a dominant side and are favourites to win most of their matches. Kevin De Bruyne is a key player in the lineup. His inclusion in the team will automatically lower the odds rate of Manchester City winning the match. Despite this dip in numbers, the over lines are expected to thrive as he is capable of creating a chance in every game.
Pep Guardiola will hope that his Belgian playmaker finds his early season form and pressurize Arsenal. They have a chance to win three titles in a row and they won’t let that slip easily.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
