As you’ll all know by now, Manchester City will double in Gameweek 36.
City players are subsequently towards the top of many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers’ shopping lists.
While Erling Haaland (£14.6m) and Nico O’Reilly (£5.2m) are the standout assets up front and in defence, one debate in the comments section and elsewhere is over which City midfielder is the best option.
Rayan Cherki (£6.6m), Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) and Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) are the three names in question.
We’ll compare the trio side-by-side in this Members article.
SAMPLE PERIOD
Firstly, Pep Guardiola very much has a favoured XI at the moment, with Cherki, Semenyo and Doku in behind Haaland.
Using our new Minutes Tracker tool in the Members Area, we can see the minutes played by each of City’s midfielders in the last seven matches in all competitions, i.e. when Pep started to use this system.
This run includes four Premier League matches: Chelsea (a), Arsenal (h), Burnley (a) and Everton (a).
In light of the new set-up, an example of which is provided below (Burnley away), we will use a four-match sample in our analysis.
It’s a tiny sample, of course, but Pep’s tactical alterations have to be factored in as they clearly impact each player’s FPL worth.
GOAL THREAT
| Player | Goals | Mins per shot | Mins per shot in box | Mins per pen box touch | Mins per xG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherki | 1 | 19.8 | 25.9 | 9.6 | 242.4 |
| Semenyo | 0 | 31.6 | 45.1 | 12.6 | 432.9 |
| Doku | 3 | 37.8 | 68.0 | 8.3 | 680.0 |
Cherki comes out on top when it comes to goal threat, with four of his 17 shots (a joint-high with Haaland among all City players) from set plays.
His total of 19.8 minutes per shot is far superior to Semenyo (31.6) and Doku (37.8).
The Frenchman is also ahead for minutes per shot in the box and expected goal (xG).
Meanwhile, two of Cherki’s attempts have been Opta ‘big chances’, compared to Doku’s one.
As for Semenyo, his form has dropped off. In the current system, he has been shifted into a wider role, whereas Cherki is operating much closer to Haaland.
Semenyo’s shots from the last four matches consequently look like this, with zero big chances.
ASSIST POTENTIAL
