The first gameweek of the National League season sees the U’s face a strong York City side who, although finishing in a convincing second place last season, failed to progress through the playoffs.
With no competitive action yet this season, Andy’s Bet Club’s football analyst takes a closer look at the data behind some of York City’s key summer signings, giving you a clearer picture of what to expect on Saturday.
Hiram Boateng (Mansfield Town)
Boateng is a left-footed midfielder who typically plays either behind the striker or in a more traditional central midfield position. At Mansfield last season, he showed a strong desire to win the ball back, averaging over seven defensive duels per game. Although with a success rate of just 55 percent, these often led to fouls. These occurred at an average of 1.64 fouls per game, placing him in the 80th percentile for fouls committed among League One midfielders, meaning that he committed more fouls than 80 per cent of the midfielders.
He made consistent contributions to Mansfield’s attacking play, assisting an average of 1 shot and 2.3 passes into the penalty area per match. For both of these, he is in the top 25 percent of League One midfielders. One weakness to look out for in his attacking game is dribbling, with a success rate of just 47%. Sutton can look to exploit this by letting him dribble in deeper areas, then applying pressure and putting in a challenge once he gets into dangerous positions, to make sure he is not able to fully utilise his passing ability.
Photo Credit: York City Football Club
Ollie Banks (Chesterfield)
Whilst at Chesterfield, Banks played a very similar role to Boateng, but at 6’3 he offers a different presence in York City’s midfield. He was heavily involved in their build-up play, on average playing 55 passes a game. There is a clear pattern in the type of passes he plays, with him being ranked in the 99th percentile for long passes and the 97th percentile for progressive passes among League Two midfielders, highlighting his ability to launch attacks from deep. This makes his long passing a key area to watch out for on Saturday.
Out of possession, Banks is less active in the press or going in for challenges, recording only 2.3 interceptions and 4.7 defensive duels per match, placing in the bottom third of all League Two midfielders for both stats. Although we do not know what role he will play for York, we can see here his preference to play high up the pitch and leave much of the defensive responsibility to his teammates.
Photo Credit: York City Football Club
Ashley Palmer (Chesterfield)
Palmer, who also joins from Chesterfield, is a 32-year-old centre back who brings over 200 National League appearances and will form an experienced partnership with Callum Howe. Palmer will add an unusual goal threat from centre back, having scored twice in 17 league matches last season.
Expect him to be very strong in all his duels, last season he won 76% of defensive duels and 65% of aerial duels, both rates put in or above the 80th percentile amongst fellow League Two centre backs. Although he does like to play the ball out, he generally opts for the less risky option, playing the short ball to the midfielders rather than attempting to pick out a forward. This is shown by his 90% passing accuracy and ranking in the 14th percentile for long passes.
Photo Credit: Chesterfield Football Club
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