In case you hadn’t noticed so far this season, the Manchester City players love playing at the Etihad Stadium. In fact, they really, really love it.
Last season, much was made of Manchester United’s near impeccable home record and how much of a part it played in their victorious title campaign. ABU’s will argue that it was played up merely to deflect attention away from their miserable away form, but 18 wins from 19 and only two points dropped are impressive statistics in any man’s language.
Their bitter rivals have a few games yet left to play at the Etihad this season, but they are in line to post an even more impressive record, having won all 12 of their home games so far, a record that is bound to stretch to 13 from 13 barring a miracle from a Bolton side that don’t exactly look capable of dispensing multiple quantities of loaves and fishes at the Etihad this weekend.
While City’s away form is far from terrible, a quick look through the stats of their individual players shows the benefits of having City players in your side when they’re at home, particularly against the lesser lights.
Sergio Aguero, for instance, has scored 11 of his 16 goals and provided five of his six assists on home turf and although David Silva has actually scored more goals away from home, nine of his 14 assists have come at the Etihad.
At the back, it’s a similar story. Eight of City’s 12 clean sheets have come at home, meaning more points for the likes of Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany and Micah Richards, who has laid on six goals all season, four of which have come at home.
The above stats and figures mightn’t come as too much of a surprise – teams are supposed to do better at home after all – but the discrepancy between the home and away form of Roberto Mancini’s side is enough to make a significant difference in Fantasy Football terms.
Besides, can you honestly say that before reading this that you actually knew that City had collected maximum points at home this season? If you did, fair play, because I certainly didn’t.
JOE’s Fantasy Football Picks:
Top Dollar: David Silva (£10.5 million). The little Spaniard was going through something of a barren patch until he chipped in with an assist against Blackburn last weekend. He also scored for the national side against Venezuela in midweek so the signs are that he’s coming good again just in time for the run-in.
Mid-Range: Martin Skrtel (£6.2 million). Probably the standout performer in a Liverpool defence that is the second best in the league, Skrtel is also a significant threat from set-pieces, as he showed in the Carling Cup Final last weekend.
Bargain Basement: Denis Stracqualursi (£5.1 million). For a while, the Argentinean struggled to get into the Everton side as badly as the Everton kitman struggled to fit his name onto the back of a jersey, but he’s been influential in the Toffees’ good run of late and is something of a bargain at just over £5 million quid.
Irish Pick: Anthony Pilkington (£5.2 million). It could be quite some time before he turns out in a green jersey (Norwich’s away strip doesn’t count), but with two goals in his last three games, he’s more prolific than the majority of midfielders currently in Giovanni Trapattoni’s squad.
Captain’s Pick: Sergio Aguero (£11.3 million). Blackburn at home last weekend, Bolton at the Etihad this Saturday, it has the look of another home procession for City and Aguero will invariably be at the thick of things.
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