Ten games is a reasonable enough sample size to make some early and pretty obvious conclusions about this Bristol City team: they are very good at the attacking part of the game but unfortunately their propensity to concede goals through unforced errors always leaves them vulnerable to dropping points.
It’s a familiar tale from the second half of last term, to the point that maybe we just have to accept you can’t have one without the other but, equally, Nigel Pearson knows either he has to strike a balance by reining in the offensive aspect of his team (unlikely), or significantly address the latter in order to get the Robins where he wants them to be.
However, overall, you have to say it’s been a pleasing and mostly enjoyable (an adjective not suited to City for many a season) start to the campaign with a sense of anticipation as to what will come next once the Championship resumes over the weekend of October 1.
We’ve taken a look at some of the standout individuals in the City squad via a number of key statistical metrics which has thrown up some other themes of the Robins’ first 10 games in 2022/23, highlighting certain player’s contributions, while also perhaps offering further insight into how they could improve.
1.4 - successful dribbles for Kal Naismith, Matty James and Nahki Wells are joint second on 1.3. Naismith’s dribble success rate is also an impressive 82 per cent, Wells 43 per cent and James 62 per cent.
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1.8 - key passes (as in a pass directly leading to a shot) per 90 minutes by Jay Dasilva, more than any other of his teammates who have made at least three starts. Joe Williams is second on 1.7 with Nahki Wells and Alex Scott on 1.2.
2 - players have played every minute of the season so far: Dan Bentley and Naismith. Weimann and Jay Dasilva have missed just one and two minutes, respectively, due to late substitutions.
3 - clean sheets for Dan Bentley. It took him 21 matches to achieve the same figure last season. The City No1’s save percentage, however, is slightly down from 70.3 per cent to 65.1 per cent.
3.5 - successful tackles per 90 minutes for Williams, with Mark Sykes second on 2.9 and Scott third with 2.7. Williams’ tackle success rate is 61 per cent, compared with 74 per cent for Sykes and 64 per cent for Scott.
4 - yellow cards for Scott, one of nine players in the Championship to have reached that number which has each individual within one more booking of a one-match suspension.
6 - different goalscorers for City, with Rob Atkinson the only non-striker to have found the target.
7 - shots by Naismith and Dasilva, the most by a City player yet to have found the target this season. Overall, Nahki Wells leads with 23 and Conway second on 17.
7.1 - accurate long balls by Naismith from 15.1 attempted per 90 minutes. Bentley is second with 7.0 from 23.1 attempted and Vyner third with 3.8 from 9.7.
8 - Conway has been substituted in all eight of his starts. City’s next most-substituted player is Alex Scott with seven. Timm Klose, Semenyo, Williams and Martin all lead the way with five appearances off the bench.
9 - different players have recorded an assist so far this season with Weimann leading the way on 4. City had 15 players to have recorded an assist across the whole of 2021/22.
10.9 - interceptions per game for City, fifth overall in the league. On an individual level, Zak Vyner leads the Robins with 2.3 per 90 minutes.
11 - of Bristol City’s goals this season have been in the first half with five conceded. In contrast, the Robins have scored eight and conceded 11 in the second halves of matches.
11.4 - shots per game for City with 13.0 conceded. They were averaging 10.4 last season and 14.2 against.
14 - points for City from four wins, two draws and four defeats. At this stage last season they had 13 with three wins, four draws and three defeats. City's goal difference (+3) is better than than the 0 they had 12 months ago.
18 - players used by Nigel Pearson in the Championship so far but only 14 have started games with Kane Wilson, Timm Klose, Antoine Semenyo and Andy King yet to be in the starting line-up.
19 - goals scored by City, joint highest alongside Sheffield United. After 10 games last season, Pearson’s side had 11. Interestingly, the Blades rank third overall for shots per game with 14.2, while City are 14th with 11.4.
50.6 - minutes per goal for Semenyo. Conway is averaging a goal every 120 minutes and Wells one every 125.
52.9 - per cent of Conway’s shots have been on target. For reference, of the other strikers at the club, Semenyo is on 50 per cent, Martin 40, Wells 39.1 and Weimann 35.7.
58.3 - passes per game by Kal Naismith, the most in the City squad. Zak Vyner is second on 44.8 and Atkinson third with 35.5.
85.1 - per cent pass success by Matty James, Conway is second on 84.3 and Dasilva third with 82.4.
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