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Player reportPremier League 2025/26

Rico Lewis

Man City
Stopper centre-back CB
9.0 defensive actions/90 · 2.4 progressive/90 — defends first
centre-backstopper centre-backbuild-upline-breaking
571
minutes
13 apps
378
passes
85% completed
85%
pass completion
378 passes
15
progressive passes
2.4/90
23
line-breaking passes
3.6/90
57
defensive actions
9.0/90
15
tackles + interceptions
67% tackle win
7
clearances
1.1/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
in the first line of build-up — mostly in the middle third (53% of his 378 passes)
85% completion · 378× in 13/13 matches
↓
CARRY OUT
step into midfield to commit a presser
7 carries · 14× in 5/13 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
2.4 prog/90 · 23× in 7/13 matches
↓
SWITCH PLAY
diagonal to the far side
cross-field balls · 11× in 7/13 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
4.6/90 · 29× in 9/13 matches
Signature: receive in the first line → break the midfield line vertically → switch or progress. Press him early and shut the vertical lane to force the safe sideways ball.
18

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
29
passes / match
9.0
def actions / 90
1–71
pass range (matches)
7
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (1 at the low end, 71 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

09

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

83 tracked carries (13.1/90, 23 progressive, 767m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

1%12%20%23%14%5%1%5%8%2%2%4%1%
progressivelateral/short% of his 83 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 8m, longest 32m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
10Outside → Inside
42Inside → Inside
23Outside → Outside
8Inside → Outside
First (32)Second (32)Third (13)Fourth (6)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

6
tackle duels
4
won
2
beaten · 33%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 0%
OUTSIDE 100%
Tackle-duel location — 0 inside · 6 outside
Right Wing
6 · 100%
Right Half-Space
0 · 0%
Central
0 · 0%
Left Half-Space
0 · 0%
Left Wing
0 · 0%
Vision AI beaten in 2 of 6 tackle duels (33% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

He attempted only 7 dribbles of his own all season — dribbling is not part of this role; his ball-carrying is covered above, his defending against the dribble below.

03

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

7%
vertical passes
9×
3%
switches
4×
28%
carries
35×
61%
short circulation
75×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW14563%9132%475%7RHS9638%3626%2530%292%24%4C4914%718%937%1827%134%2LHS166%138%631%525%4LW147%150%743%6FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the right wing in the middle third → the right wing in the middle third — 3 progressive passes (15% of his progression) at 0.005 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 45% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 5% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

Only 5% of his passes switch play, so his threat is same-side — contain the flank he occupies and the route closes.

Quality behind the volume: 5 line-breaking passes and 29 final-third entries, 0.5 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
2%9%14%22%16%9%0%3%4%7%5%1%1%3%3%2%
completedincomplete378 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
378
passes
85%
completed
58
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 85% season completion rate.
04

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

15
progressive · 2.4/90
29
final-third entries · 4.6/90
6
box entries · 0.95/90
18
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
13

How does he create chances?

6 key passes (0.95/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
33%67%
chance creation (6)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
06

Where does he become vulnerable?

63 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

37
attacking third (cheap)
21
middle third
5
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 59% of losses are in the attacking third — he gambles where a turnover costs little.
Mistake danger (proxy): 2.21 danger-index/90 · 0.223 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
05

What is his passing profile?

378
passes attempted
38%
mostly sideways
63%
mostly short
Direction
Forward
116 · 31%
Sideways
144 · 38%
Backward
118 · 31%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
202 · 63%
Medium
105 · 33%
Long (>30m)
13 · 4%
11

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

0.250.220.150.140.120.08
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
0.25
Right Half-Space Mid third → Left Half-Space Att third
1 passes
0.22
Right Half-Space Mid third → Left Wing Att third
3 passes
0.15
Right Wing Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
2 passes
0.14
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Att third
1 passes
0.12
Right Half-Space Att third → Right Wing Att third
1 passes
0.08
Right Half-Space Att third → Right Half-Space Att third
1 passes
07

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Rico Lewis gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
24%
Primary
Right Wing, Middle third
14%
Secondary
Right Half-Space, Attacking third
13%
Third
Right Half-Space, Middle third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
08

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Rico Lewis actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
210119112172723673552846033
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

2%9%14%22%16%9%0%3%4%7%5%1%1%3%3%2%
own goal left, attacking →
10

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

6Key pass
3Cross
7Cutback
15Progressive
23Long ball
11Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
62Outside → Inside
108Inside → Inside
97Outside → Outside
53Inside → Outside
By direction
116Forward
118Backward
144Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
02

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he switches from the right hs to the left hs, advancing it forward in the middle third — 1 passes worth 0.25 xT.
Where do his chances come from?
Of 6 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he plays inside from the right hs toward the central in the final third — 4 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the left half-space in the final third: 56% of his 9 touches there are lost (5 times).
14%4/29 lost7%1/14 lost0%0/11 lost—1 touch · too few—1 touch · too few14%13/93 lost8%4/50 lost3%1/33 lost0%0/11 lost8%1/12 lost15%7/47 lost27%14/51 lost54%7/13 lost56%5/9 lost—3 touches · too fewRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
12

Crosses & Cutbacks

3 crosses (0.47/90, 0 completed) and 7 cutbacks (1.10/90, 2 completed) — two separate wide-delivery patterns into the box, each its own map with a completed/failed filter. Neither is a tagged event, so both are inferred from pass geometry — the intended end point of a failed attempt is still real data (an interception doesn’t erase where the ball was aimed): a cross is a pass aimed into the box starting from a wide channel; a cutback starts almost on the byline but is squared back rather than driven forward, aimed centrally around the box. The completed-cross count was checked against this platform’s own real match-level cross totals and lands within about 1 cross of the true count.

Crosses — close-up on the final third
Cutbacks — close-up on the final third
completedfailed (dashed)close-up on the box — attacking ↑ toward goal
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

14

How & where does he defend?

57 defensive actions across the season (9.0/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
6
tackles · 67% won
9
interceptions · 1.4/90
16
recoveries · 2.5/90
7
clearances · 1.1/90
4
blocks
44
avg action height
13
won high (att 3rd)
22
middle third
22
own third
Vision AI A mid-block defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 31 proactive ball-wins (4.9/90), tackle success 67%. He defends high, stepping out to intercept — suits a high line.
15

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Rico Lewis still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~4-5 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 6.4, 4m)
84%
2.2
4.4
0.60
Mid press (PPDA 8.0, 4m)
87%
3.1
3.7
0.77
Low press (PPDA 10.4, 5m)
84%
2.1
3.1
1.10
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

16

Impact on the Team

Man City's output per match with Rico Lewis (2 matches) versus without him (6 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 6 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (2)
WITHOUT (6)
Δ
goals against /match
1.50
1.00
+0.50
points /match
1.50
3.00
-1.50
goals for /match
1.50
2.83
-1.33
xG for /match
1.58
1.79
-0.21
17

His Share of the Team

Of everything Man City produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Rico Lewis specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
interceptions
1%
9 / 634
final-third entries
1%
40 / 4342
half-space entries
1%
29 / 3206
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

19

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 513 centre-backs in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Stopper centre-back40%Ball-playing centre-back37%
Why Stopper centre-back 40%: a weighted blend of defensive aggression 54 (weight 35%) + ball-winning 40 (weight 40%) + retention 36 (weight 15%) + transition 35 (weight 10%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
receiving zones, creativity
Strong
territory (wide vs central), final-third threat, crossing, carrying
Average
box threat, progression, line-breaking, defensive aggression, dribbling, through-balls, ball-winning
Weak
press resistance, build-up, retention, transition, passing directness
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Receiving zones
100
Creativity
87
Territory (wide vs central)
83
Final-third threat
78
Crossing
74
Carrying
72
Box threat
63
Progression
55
Line-breaking
54
Defensive aggression
54
Dribbling
53
Through-balls ~proxy
51
Ball-winning
40
Press resistance ~proxy
40
Build-up
38
Retention
36
Transition ~proxy
35
Passing directness
1
20

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 170 cm / 64 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Ferdi Kadioglu Brighton · 174 cm / 68 kg
83%
Driven by: receiving zones (16%), passing directness (15%), height (12%). Different mechanism — Lewis more via carrying, build-up; Kadioglu more via through-balls, line-breaking.
Timothy Weah Marseille · Ligue 1 · 183 cm / 66 kg
80%
Driven by: creativity (19%), receiving zones (16%), passing directness (13%). Different mechanism — Lewis more via build-up, retention; Weah more via through-balls, line-breaking.
Djed Spence Inter · Serie A · 185 cm / 71 kg
79%
Driven by: creativity (19%), passing directness (15%), receiving zones (15%). Different mechanism — Lewis more via build-up, retention; Spence more via through-balls, ball-winning.
Nathaniel Brown Bayern · Bundesliga · 176 cm / 67 kg
78%
Driven by: passing directness (17%), creativity (14%), receiving zones (13%). Different mechanism — Lewis more via final-third threat, progression; Brown more via box threat.
Konrad Laimer Bayern · Bundesliga · 180 cm / 72 kg
78%
Driven by: creativity (20%), receiving zones (17%), passing directness (13%). Different mechanism — Laimer more via line-breaking, progression.
Nahuel Molina Roma · Serie A · 175 cm / 70 kg
77%
Driven by: creativity (20%), receiving zones (17%), passing directness (12%). Different mechanism — Molina more via line-breaking, through-balls.
21

Summary

Rico Lewis is a stopper centre-back: 85% pass completion, 23 line-breaking passes and 2.4 progressive passes /90. A build-and-progress centre-back whose value is in beating the first line with the pass, not in raw defensive volume. [Aerial duels, marking, line-height and 1v1 recovery need aerial-event + tracking data, absent here.]

Based on 13 matches (571 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. He profiles as a stopper centre-back — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is transition — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall stopper centre-back profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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