STATS: Michu’s shots for Swansea vs Toure’s passes for Manchester City
Swansea v Manchester City, Saturday 15:00
– Swansea remain on course for a top ten finish, despite suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea in their last game.
– Despite that scoreline, Chico put in an admirable defensive effort, being one of only two players in the last round of games to attempt seven tackles. The other was his opposite number last weekend, David Luiz. Chico was also one of only three players to make three blocks in the last round of games. Overall he made 25 defensive contributions, the joint highest for the last round of games alongside Luiz.
– Michael Laudrup has stated that he accepts some of his best players may leave in the summer, with Michu, Michel Vorm and Ashley Williams all linked to moves away.
– Michu has 17 goals this season, coming from 98 shots at goal and averaging a goal for every 5.76 shots and every 172 minutes 21 seconds. As impressively, Michu will, against Man City, join the 17 players in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index who have attempted 100 or more tackles this season. Michu has attempted 99 tackles, and while he has won just 41% of those attempted his tenacity in trying to win back the ball should be admired.
– Retaining the services of loanee Jonathan de Guzman on a permanent basis remains a priority for Swansea ahead of next season. All being well, Swansea fans can expect to see de Guzman have his 50th effort at goal this season against City, and hopefully add to his tally of five goals. De Guzman has had 49 efforts at goal to date, with 26 of those on target.
– Manchester City may have surrendered the Premier League title to neighbours Manchester United, but they showed great character to bounce back and beat West Ham 2-1, thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure.
– City’s dominance against West Ham is evident when you note that three of the top four players last weekend for passes completed in the opposition half were City players. Yaya Toure completed 66 passes in opposition territory, Samir Nasri 50, and David Silva 42.
– Yaya Toure’s performance ranks as the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s 7th highest number of passes in opposition territory by a player in a single game this season, and he now holds three of the top ten passing performances this season.
– Aguero’s goal was his 11th of the season, coming from 72 shots at goal with 58.3% on target and averaging 6.54 shots per goal.