Sergio Aguero's absence may not be felt as badly as some Man City fans fear, according to the data.
Aguero is City’s all-time top goalscorer and arguably their greatest ever player.
His two week absence with a thigh injury will come as a hammer-blow to City’s hopes of catching up to Liverpool in the title race - or so you’d think.
The strange thing is though that City’s results are just as good without Aguero in the side as they are with him in it.
City have won the equivalent of 2.3 points per game in all competitions when Aguero has started under Pep Guardiola.
That’s compared to 2.3 points per game when he hasn’t.
In fact, City actually have a better win ratio when Aguero hasn’t started than when he has - 74 per cent versus 71 per cent.
The do lose games more regularly without him though - 16 per cent of games as opposed to 12 per cent. City have a great record when Aguero's likely replacement, Gabriel Jesus, starts games.
They’ve won 80 per cent of matches that Jesus has started compared to 71 per cent when he hasn’t. City average the equivalent of 2.8 points per game with Jesus in the starting 11 compared to 2.4 per game when he hasn’t started.
With or without Aguero
Starting // Win percentage
Yes // 71%
No // 74%
With or without Jesus
Yes // 80%
No // 71%
