It will be a battle at the back for both of these two on Saturday when City’s number 30 and Richards will have to neutralise the threat of Sergio Aguero and Jordan Ayew…
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at how the two fair in the Premier League so far this season…
Appearances
The combined appearances of the two add up to 33, with Nicolas making one more appearance than Micah.
Otamendi - 17
Richards - 16
Goals
A stat that they share is the amount of goals they’ve scored, with Otamendi getting on the score sheet in the 2-1 win against Norwich City.
Otamendi - 1
Richards - 1
Clean sheets
A big stat for defenders is clean sheets and it’s another tight contest for this category with the City defender taking this category.
Otamendi - 5
Richards - 3
Clearances
Another big part of being a defender is the ability to block shots and passes before clearing the danger and both have done that consistently this season.
City’s number 30 edges the clearance category with 123 clearances, while Richards has made 11 less and has a total of 112.
Otamendi - 123
Richards - 112
Blocks
However, the Villa skipper takes the blocks category.
Otamendi - 4
Richards - 11
Pass completion rate
More so in the modern era, some defenders are class as ball playing defenders and are expected to be able to pick out a pass to start an attack. The two players pass completion rate is very similar with only 0.4% separating the two.
Otamendi - 84.9%
Richards - 85.3%.
Average passes per game
Although the Villa defender has the higher pass completion rate, his average passes per game is a lot less than the Argentine. Nicolas averages just under 20 passes more per game than the former City defender.
Otamendi - 52.6 ppg
Richards - 33.5 ppg
