By Dujun Huang 

For all of us football fans out there, we know that on the 24th of September 2024, Rodri, City’s midfield maestro, suffered a devastating ACL injury that will result in him staying on the bench for the season. But how much will that impact the team?

Statistics 

The Spaniard has played a staggering 174 games in the Premier League, and out of those, he has only lost 19 games and drawn 26. This means he has won a whopping 126 games for the Sky Blues. City’s number 16 has only missed 21 games, resulting in 7 losses, a draw, and 13 wins. With Rodrigo on the pitch, there is a 74.1% win chance, but without him, only a 61.9% win rate remains. Research shows that the average points per game is 2.37 with the midfielder, but without him, only a 1.90 remains. If City carries on with this, they will only get 76 points in a season, which is not enough to secure them the title.

Why Is He So Important? 

When Rodri joined the club in 2019/20, Rodri has won possession 1,348 times in the Premier League. Only Arsenal’s Declan Rice has managed to top that. Amazingly, in the same time frame, the Ballon d’Or winner has made nearly 2,000 passes more than any other player. These statistics above show the 2023/2024 season. As you can see, he was ranked first in the PL for touches, carries, passes into the final third, and progressive passes. He is only just behind Declan Rice. As you can see, in the recent game against Spurs, Manchester City lost 4-0 with a shaky defensive line.

So, to summarize, I believe that losing Rodri will make a HUGE difference to the Premier League. Liverpool fans and Arsenal fans may be happy, but I’m certainly not!