On the Radar- Yaya Toure

This week sees us bring back a series of weekly articles introduced towards the tail end of last season. For those of you unfamiliar, “On the Radar” is a quick look at slightly more unfashionable players who could may just be worth a punt in the upcoming gameweek…

Following their last-ditch 1-0 defeat at The Stadium of Light in Gameweek 3, Man City take on Blackburn at Eastlands this weekend intent on getting back to winning ways. Given the influx of new talent this season, added to the fact that the same fixture last season ended 4-1 in City’s favour (courtesy of a Carlos Tevez hat-trick), Roberto Mancini will have every right to feel confident of victory.

While the majority of City investment has so far focused on Tevez and James Milner, there could, perhaps, be a case for Yaya Toure. Though many expected Toure to be played as a defensive midfielder -and his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) price -£5.5m- certainly reflects that theory- Mancini has been playing him as the furthest forward of his midfield three.

Our OPTA stats show that not only does Toure see more of the ball and has made more passes than any other City player, he has also made 6 Key Passes leading to goal attempts so far this season -the same number as £9.1m Milner and twice the amount of Adam Johnson- only being denied any assists so far by his team mates’ subsequent finishing. Toure has also 3 attempts on goal; the same as Johnson, but more than Milner.

Although Ewood Park is typically something of a fortress, Blackburn are particularly bad travellers; outside of their away trips to the bottom four last season, Big Sam’s side picked up just two clean sheets on the road. With Rovers arriving at Eastlands having conceded 2 goals in each of their last two games, and with Mancini’s side having already put three past Liverpool in their only home league game so far, City should have little problem finding their opponent’s net.

If Toure continues to play this attacking role, it seems fairly certain -as the stats allude to- that the decent points haul his displays have merited seems imminent.