Joao Cancelo made a loan move from Manchester City to Bayern Munich in the winter transfer window. He has been instrumental in the team’s line-up in the past two seasons. His versatility to play on both flanks was a big asset for Pep Guardiola. However, the lack of gametime since the World Cup changed the mind of the Portuguese, and he decided to leave the club. Now Manchester City have a young full-back who is coming through their ranks. He is just 18 years old and has already started to settle into the main team. City have a few full-back options and that means that Rico Lewis is expected to get some regular gametime in his debut season. We now look at some of the stats that show how Lewis can replace the attack-minded full-back.
Rico Lewis made his debut against Bournemouth in August after coming off the bench for the last few minutes. He has nine appearances to his name in the English Premier League, including five starts. He has played as a left-back, right-back, and central midfielder. The above viz shows the percentile rank of the player in comparison to other right-backs in the league. It can be observed that the player has a low percentile rank in the attacking and defensive departments. However, he is highly ranked for passing the ball, which is why Pep Guardiola has given him more minutes on the field.
The position of play
Rico Lewis’ primary role is to defend his goal. His average position has been on the right side of the field. The touch map of the player shows that his maximum touches have been made in the attacking half. His defensive territory is also on that particular side. As for his defensive actions, the 18-year-old contests 7.19 defensive duels and only 0.74 aerial duels per match. The win percentage is 51.3% for defensive duels, but he has failed to win all the aerial duels contested by him. Other than this, Lewis makes 1.84 interceptions per 90 minutes. Lewis hasn’t been involved in a lot of defensive actions as his average position is high up on the pitch.
Progression with the ball
Rico Lewis has impressed with the way he has played the ball. He averages 56.62 passes per 90 minutes and has a high accuracy rate of 93.8%. These passes include 5.16 passes to the final third and 2.03 passes to the opposition’s penalty box. The above viz shows that most of them have been sideway passes.
The 18-year-old advances with the ball from the right side. He averages 2.03 progressive runs per 90 minutes and attempts 1.29 dribbles per 90 minutes with a 57.1% success rate.
His other contributions include 4.8 recoveries per 90 minutes, with 50% of them coming in the attacking half. The above viz shows that the player makes most of the high regains on the edge of the final third.
Can he replace Cancelo?
Joao Cancelo has improved a lot in his attacking stats in the past few seasons. This season, he was once again at the top of his game. The above viz shows the comparison in percentile rank of the players. Cancelo was dominant in all the departments except for positioning, defensive duels, and passing accuracy. The player is still young and will look to improve his stats in the coming matches.
Betting Analysis
Rico Lewis is likely to make much of an impact in the 1×2 odds as well as for the over/under lines. The odds for Manchester City will increase because the player has less experience and has yet to make any goal contributions. Joao Cancelo had more goal contributions, and his exit will automatically affect the odds for Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola will rely on his 18-year-old fullback for the remainder of the season. He has started to settle into the team, and his passing ability has impressed many. Pep will hope that Lewis adapts to the attacking game and helps City defend their English Premier League title once again.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
