Manchester City kept a long-awaited clean sheet in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manuel Akanji was one of many who contributed. The 27-year-old was alongside Aymeric Laporte and John Stones, playing his part in nullifying the Old Gold at the Etihad Stadium.
Akanji made more tackles, blocked more shots and completed more passes than his defensive counterparts. The Swiss international also played more accurate long balls out of the back and had more touches than any other player.
Wolves were limited to just one shot on target and two of their three forwards failed to win an aerial duel. Despite having Stones and Ruben Dias for competition as a right-sided centre-back, Akanji has kept his place ever since he joined from Borussia Dortmund.
In fact, the defender hasn’t missed a Premier League game for Man City since he made his debut in September’s 3-0 away win over Wolves. Pep Guardiola has used Akanji in a variety of roles, but he’s yet to drop him for a league outing and might have a new favourite player.
Vital Man City have noted in the past that Akanji was a bargain buy for City at £15.75m and Guardiola is getting further value as he’s amassed 1196 minutes of playing time from a possible 1260 (94.9%).
In other news, Aymeric Laporte was dominant against Wolves
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