Two of the league’s premier right-wingers will face off this Saturday night when Melbourne City FC travel to face Macarthur FC at Campbelltown Stadium.
Andrew Nabbout has been on fire since returning from a hamstring injury earlier this season and has been a significant factor in City’s turnaround in form that began with a win over Sydney FC in February.
Macca gets the goal but what about the ball from Metcalfe and then the twinkle toes from Nabbout! 🤯🤩
📽 @FOXFOOTBALL#CmonCity #MCYvSYD #ALeague pic.twitter.com/nUUQK6NhjK
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) February 23, 2021
Spanish winger Markel Susaeta has proven his quality throughout the season with Macarthur and will prove a significant threat to City’s back four when the teams clash on Saturday.
Owing to Nabbout’s lengthy injury, there’s quite a disparity in games and minutes played by the pair, with Susaeta’s 16 appearances and 1087 minutes dwarfing Nabbout’s 11 and 874.
However, in terms of the metrics that matter, it’s Nabbout who’s proven the more potent, recording two goals and four assists to Susaeta’s two and one.
Outrageous 🤯#CmonCity | #MelbDerby | #ALeague pic.twitter.com/UX1yQ6SGw6
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 17, 2021
Nabbout’s superiority in regards to assists is perhaps a surprise given Susaeta’s 21 key passes, two more than the City winger. Equally, the Spaniard more than doubles Nabbout’s successful crosses with 11 to 5.
Whilst both wide men have recorded 11 shots on target, Nabbout and Susaeta have attempted 26 and 19 efforts on goal respectively, awarding a higher shooting accuracy to the former City man.
The wingers’ roles differ slightly, with Nabbout the more direct whilst Susaeta contributes more to his side’s build-up play, owing to his higher passes-per-90 figure of 48.8 to Nabbout’s 39.1. Susaeta is also more accurate with these passes, boasting an accuracy of 89% to 76.6%.
