Melbourne City FC will host Adelaide United on Thursday night, with two of the A-League’s premier wide attackers set to do battle on the wings of AAMI Park in front of a vocal City crowd.
Craig Noone is currently enjoying another productive season in the A-League, with the Englishman already at five goals and seven assists for the 2020/21 campaign.
Nooney is on FIRE tonight! 🔥🔥🔥
📹 @FOXFOOTBALL#CmonCity | #MCYvWSW | #ALeague pic.twitter.com/N5DarHidgI
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) March 26, 2021
City’s excellent home form continued on Saturday night when it recorded another win, taking down Brisbane 3-2 in an action-packed affair. Noone and his teammates will be looking to extend their Club record home winning run to eight on Thursday night, click here to get your tickets now.
Having joined Adelaide on-loan from Al-Wehda in February this year, Craig Goodwin has picked up right where he left off for United, proving himself to be one of the league’s most dangerous attacking threats from out wide.
Given he joined mid-season, Goodwin has understandably played far fewer minutes than his City counterpart, with the pair having featured for their teams for 1,035 and 1,610 minutes respectively this campaign.
That playing time disparity hasn’t stopped Goodwin from dominating the league since his return, with the Red having matched Noone with five goals in his 12 appearances, though three have come from the penalty spot. As a result, the pair net a goal once every 207 and 322 minutes respectively.
Connor wins the ball back 💪
Release from Nabbout 🤯
Finish from Nooney 🔥📹 @FOXFOOTBALL#CmonCity #MCYvMAC pic.twitter.com/J5DoyauvOG
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) March 12, 2021
Similarly, Goodwin also pushes Noone for assists with five to his name already this season, just two less than the City wide-man.
In regards to their creative stats, Noone dominates even on a per-90-minutes basis, playing 3.6 key passes and 3 crosses to Goodwin’s 2.6 and 1.7. Noone isn’t just about volume either, accurate with 37.9% of his crosses compared to Goodwin’s 25.7%.
𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 '𝑪'.
Nooney and Luna combine for the opener away from home!
📽 @FOXFOOTBALL#CmonCity #CCMvMCY #ALeague pic.twitter.com/a7en9AfJJ3
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) February 3, 2021
Whilst Noone dominates in the creative stakes, it’s Goodwin who’s the more direct threat to goal, taking 2.3 shots per 90 to Noone’s 2. The Adelaide man is also more accurate, placing 61.5% of his shots on target to Noone’s 50%.
One might think that Noone’s significantly higher crossing frequency would stem from a higher involvement on the ball more generally, but it’s actually Goodwin who plays the more passes per 90, and more accurately. The Adelaide winger is accurate with 82.4% of his 38.5 passes per 90, outperforming Noone’s 36.3 passes at 72.9% accuracy.
