Ben Stewart
How this Man City team compares to the Centurion side of 17/18
Since Pep Guardiola’s arrival at Manchester City in 2016, he has pushed the boundaries of what people thought was possible in English football and City are showing no signs of slowing down.
With Pep’s side currently in the running for their fourth title in five years, we’ve taken a look at how this season's Manchester City compare to the 100-point Champions of 2017/18.
What is possible for City this season?
During the 17/18 season, Man City were averaging an astonishing 2.63 points per game, a record high for the Premier League. So far this season City have managed 2.46 points per game, which would see them finish on 94 points if they carry on at their current rate.
While City can’t quite match the points per game of 17/18, they have clearly improved from last season where they picked up 2.26 points per game and won the league with 86 points.
With ten games left to play, the maximum amount of points Man City can finish on is 99 points if they win all ten of their remaining fixtures.
Goalscoring
In the 17/18 season, Man City played with a traditional front three of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero, with a midfield three of David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne and Fernandinho.
Aguero and Sterling alone scored 39 goals between themselves and it’s clear that this team had more about them in the final third. They averaged 2.79 goals per game and were unbelievably clinical as they scored 106 goals.
This season, Man City have predominately played with a false-nine which has usually been Phil Foden. As they no longer have an out and out striker like Sergio Aguero, it won’t come as much of a surprise to learn that City have been less clinical this season without him as they score from 0.12 of the shots they take, compared to 0.15 in 17/18.
What is interesting though, is Man City do now create more chances with this new false-nine system. City went from having 17.4 shots per 90 in the Centurian season to having 18.3 shots this season.
They also create a higher xG per 90, which has seen an increase from 2.27 to 2.31 per 90. So, despite no longer playing with a recognised striker and losing some clinical edge, they now tend to create more chances and get into better positions to score from.
Defence
This is where the numbers do start to tip in the current Man City teams' favour. So far this season Man City have conceded just 0.64 per 90 and they currently have the best defensive record, having conceded just 18 goals.
Rodri sits in front of the back four and shields them by probing the midfield. Tactical fouls have always been a trait of Pep Guardiola’s side and Rodri has committed the most fouls in the City squad this season with 32.
City’s defence during the Centurian season was also fantastic, but it just falls short of their stellar record from this season. In 17/18 they conceded 0.71 goals per 90 and ended the season with 27 goals conceded. If City keeps up their current record, they will have conceded just 24 goals by the end of the season.
During the 17/18 season, Fabian Delph was utilised as a stand-in left back and to his credit, he did a fantastic job, but there’s no disputing Joao Cancelo being a sizeable upgrade in this area.
Their improvement in this area also shows that Ederson has developed his game since first arriving in Manchester. Despite City conceding more goals in 17/18, they actually limited the opposition to just 0.60 xG against them per 90, which has increased to 0.73 this season. Ederson’s development now makes up for this slight increase in xG against them.