Football / Reaction / Missing Players 20 03 2010

Missing Players (20/03/2010)

Bettorlogic have found a selection of the key missing players from across Europe's major leagues.

Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero

 

 

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NB: Player appearances are based on a player starting and completing at least 60 minutes. The sample is based on a team’s home and away league matches since the start of last season unless otherwise stated.

Mallorca v Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid superstar Sergio Aguero will miss their trip to Mallorca after he picked up his fifth booking of the season in his side’s 1-0 victory over Osasuna on Monday night. Along with Aguero, Portuguese winger Simao is also absent after being dismissed in the aforementioned match. The Portuguese star has been a regular starter for Atletico since joining from Benfica in 2007, but it is Aguero who is the biggest loss.

The Argentinean forward has played in 106 of Atletico Madrid’s 140 league matches since 2006/07 and, as one would expect, their performance takes a nosedive when he is absent. The visitors have a PPG of 1.78 with him and just 1.06 without him.  Similarly, there is a 27% decline in the number of goals Atletico score when Aguero hasn’t been playing — down from 1.76 per game with him to 1.29 without him.

 

Stoke v Spurs

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp announced on Friday morning that his striker Jermaine Defoe had torn his hamstring in training during the week and would be out for around three weeks. Defoe joins Tom Huddlestone, David Bentley, Aaron Lennon, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate on Spurs’ ever-growing injury list.

Jermaine Defoe has played at least 60 minutes of 30 of Spurs’ 47 league matches since he returned to the club from Portsmouth in the January transfer window last season. The England international is the focal point of Spurs’ attack and his presence is sorely missed; their PPG drops from 1.83 to 1.65 when he is absent and, more pertinently, from 1.36 to 1.00 on the road.

Since the start of last season, only Defoe (8 away goals) has scored more than two away Premier League goals. The visitors will be expected to start with a typical 4-4-2 formation with Peter Crouch (2) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (0) fronting the attack. Perhaps the most damning statistic for Lilywhite’s fans is that  Spurs have won four of their seven away fixtures when both Defoe and Lennon have played but just three of 16 when either or both of them have been missing.

 

Portsmouth v Hull

Hull are without their captain George Boateng who was lucky to escape with just a one-game ban for his sending off in last week’s defeat against Arsenal that marked the end of Phil Brown’s reign as Hull manager. The Tigers will view this a must-win if they are to remain in the Premier League, however they are particularly weak without their skipper. Since they were promoted Hull have won just 21% of their league fixtures, but this increases to 31% when Boateng plays and they face bottom-half opposition. Furthermore, when he is missing they have won only two of 18 matches against bottom-half sides.

 

Real Zaragoza v Barcelona

Barcelona’s talismanic midfielder Xavi tends to be the first name on the team sheet for Pep Guardiola, but the Spaniard is injured for their trip to Zaragoza on Sunday. Only goalkeeper Victor Valdes (three) has been absent for fewer games than Xavi (six) since the start of last season. Barca have been beaten in just four of the 58 matches in which Xavi has been present but they have lost two of the six games he has missed.

Barcelona remain rightly favourites for this match (they have a PPG of 2.19 since 2008/09), but they have scored just one goal in each of he away games that Xavi has missed.

 

Montpellier v Valenciennes

Valenciennes suffered an embarrassing 2-0 home defeat to Rennes last weekend in which Siaka Tiene was dismissed in the second half. The Ivory Coast defender is an integral part of Valenciennes back-line having played in 48 of their 66 Ligue 1 fixtures since the start of last season. 54% of Valenciennes matches have seen no more than two goals when Tiene has played, but this increases to a staggering 83% when he is missing.

 

Atalanta v Livorno

Atalanta will be expecting to pick up three points against promoted Livorno, but the hosts will have to do so without key midfield Christiano Doni.  Stretching back to the start of last season, Doni has played in 24 of Atalanta’s 32 home matches and the most significant difference occurs in the number of goals they score. As a result there is an increase from 58% to 75% in the amount of under goals matches they are involved in when he is absent.
 

 
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