Welcome to The Radar, a Sky Sports column in which Nick Wright uses a blend of data and opinion to shed light on need-to-know stories from up and down the Premier League. This week:
💥 Semenyo’s instant impact at Man City
🔴 Attack best form of defence for Carrick
📈 Fernandes’ return to No 10 role
🔍 A player to watch this weekend
Semenyo gives Man City variety
Antoine Semenyo has only been a Manchester City player for a week following his £64m arrival from Bournemouth but he has wasted no time in showing just how much he has to offer his new side.
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Highlights of Man City’s Carabao Cup win over Newcastle
After starting on the left flank and scoring with his right foot in his first game against Exeter, he started on the right flank and scored with his left foot in his second against Newcastle.
One goal came from a run in behind, the other from a back-post tap-in. There was even a demonstration of his set-piece threat with his ludicrously ruled-out second goal on Tuesday night.
He has arrived at the Etihad Stadium with a total of 10 goals in 20 Premier League games which puts him behind only Igor Thiago and his new team-mate Erling Haaland this season. The 26-year-old ranks similarly highly for shots and shots on target.
The hope for Manchester City is that he will ease the scoring burden on Haaland, who has scored a higher percentage of his side’s goals than any other Premier League player this season.
But he has been signed for the variety as well as the volume of his attacking output. His two-footedness has been cited by Pep Guardiola as a major part of his attraction. Semenyo has an almost even split between right and left-footed goals in the Premier League and ranks as one of the most two-footed shooters in Europe.
His versatility is another factor. Semenyo is comfortable on either flank, as he has already shown in City colours, and that’s not all. “He can play as a striker too with his pace,” said Guardiola.
Semenyo as a No 9 is an intriguing possibility, especially with Guardiola describing Haaland as “exhausted” after the Newcastle game. Maybe Omar Marmoush is not his only rotation option. But it is of course on the flanks that Semenyo can bring the most value.
Antoine Semenyo has played a significant number of minutes on each flank
He was mostly used on the left by Bournemouth this season but Manchester City already have Jeremy Doku there. Semenyo gives them another option but it is worth noting he played more minutes on the right over the course of his time with his former club.
Semenyo’s goal against Newcastle, swept home from close range after Bernardo Silva had flicked on Doku’s low cross from left to right, was a first glimpse of how the two wingers can combine.
It also typified their different styles as wide players.
While Semenyo is more of a goal threat, shooting roughly twice as frequently as his new team-mate, Doku excels as a provider, creating nearly twice as many chances for team-mates as Semenyo.
The numbers further illustrate how Semenyo gives Guardiola something different. His penchant for the spectacular is another asset. His long-range strike against Spurs in his final Bournemouth appearance was his fourth from outside the box in the Premier League this season. No City player has scored more than two.
Old Trafford might not appear the easiest setting for a potential Premier League debut. But Saturday’s game, live on Sky Sports at 12.30pm, may well be viewed differently by Semenyo.
Saturday 17th January 11:00am
Kick off 12:30pm
He has scored in each of his last three appearances against Manchester United, giving him the chance to become only the fourth player in Premier League history, after Mohamed Salah, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Sergio Aguero, to find the net in four consecutively.
A look back at those previous three goals offers another reminder of the variety of his threat. While one was fired in off the post with ruthless precision following a run in behind, the others were dispatched first-time, with his supposedly weaker foot, having found space to finish in the box, just as he did on Tuesday night.
Should Carrick go on the attack?
Michael Carrick faces Guardiola for the first time in his managerial career on Saturday but he knows better than most how disorientating a meeting with one of his teams can be.
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Speaking on the Inside Carrington Podcast, Michael Carrick says it an ‘unbelievable feeling’ to return to Man Utd
Carrick was part of the Manchester United sides outplayed by Guardiola’s Barcelona in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals. The first, he later revealed, left psychological scars.
Present-day Manchester City are a different proposition to peak Barcelona. Guardiola has adapted his style in recent years. But they have the same capacity to blow teams away.
Opponents tend to err on the side of caution against them. Manchester United did just that when they ground out a goalless draw in last season’s Old Trafford meeting under Ruben Amorim. But attack might be the best form of defence for Carrick as he plots his first game as Amorim’s successor.
Manchester United have, after all, displayed attacking improvement amid their inconsistency this season. Only Manchester City and Arsenal have scored more goals, while only City have a higher ‘expected’ total. They rank top for shots and shots on target.
Carrick’s efforts to build on that attacking improvement will be helped on Saturday by the return of two of his most dangerous offensive players in Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo following their involvement at AFCON. It was Amad, of course, who inspired the late victory at the Etihad Stadium last season.
Bryan Mbeumo has returned to training with Man Utd following AFCON
In support of an improving Benjamin Sesko, who has scored three goals in his last two games, they should be confident of causing problems for what is likely to be a makeshift City backline.
Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne impressed in helping Guardiola’s side keep out Newcastle on Tuesday but they are 21 and 20 respectively and only have 11 Premier League starts between them. Carrick should make it his mission to test them at Old Trafford.
Fernandes back to No 10
Manchester United’s back three is no more. Amorim’s exit may also signal the end of Bruno Fernandes playing in a midfield two. He returned to the No 10 role in Darren Fletcher’s two games in charge and will surely continue there under Carrick, who used a 4-2-3-1 formation in 112 of his 124 league games in charge of Middlesbrough.
Fernandes’ heat maps show an increase in activity in his own half in the last two seasons, illustrating how his role changed under Amorim. It is to the 31-year-old’s credit that, despite being asked to play deeper, crowbarred into a system that did not suit him, he continued to carry the same influence in the final third.
Bruno Fernandes’ heat maps across his six full seasons at Man Utd
This season, he ranks either top or second among Premier League players in a host of creative metrics. His total of 56 chances created is the highest by any player not just in the Premier League but in any of the major European leagues.
Not bad for a guy playing out of position.
Now what can he do back at No 10?
Player Radar: Who else to keep an eye on
Wolves haven’t had much to celebrate this season but the emergence Matheus Mane is a major positive. The 18-year-old faces Newcastle, live on Sky Sports on Sunday, having scored in back to back Premier League games against West Ham and Everton.
Live Radar: What’s on Sky this weekend?
Don’t miss Manchester United’s meeting with Manchester City, live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 11am on Saturday, ahead of the 12.30pm kick-off.
On Sunday, Wolves vs Newcastle is live on Sky Sports Premier League and Main Event from 1pm, kicking off at 2pm, ahead of the 4.30pm kick off between Aston Villa and Everton.
Join David Jones and Jamie Carragher for Brighton vs Bournemouth on Monday Night Football from 7pm, kick-off 8pm.
Read the last Radar column
The last column looked at the significance of Martin Odegaard’s return to form for Arsenal and the qualities that make him unique.
