Zlatan Ibrahimovic v John Stones: The key battle in the Manchester derby

Posted Thursday, September 08, 2016 by Skysports.com

Zlatan Ibrahimovic v John Stones: The key battle in the Manchester derby
Who will come out on top when Zlatan Ibrahimovic and John Stones clash?

Who will come out on top when Zlatan Ibrahimovic and John Stones meet at Old Trafford? We check the stats behind the key battle...

After Manchester United and Manchester City won their opening three games of the Premier League season, something has to give when Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola's men meet on Saturday in the 172nd Manchester derby.

There was only one goal scored in the two Premier League meetings between the sides last season, so the margins are sure to be small. The outcome could well rest on how John Stones deals with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Despite turning 35 next month, the mercurial Swede's goalscoring instincts are showing no signs of waning. Ibrahimovic scored on both his Manchester United and Premier League debuts and is joint top scorer with Manchester City's suspended Sergio Aguero in the Premier League this season.

Since the start of last season, only Barcelona's Luis Suarez (43) has scored more goals in Europe's five leading leagues, with his tally of 41 goals bettering the totals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Robert Lewandowski.

Ibrahimovic's three Premier League goals this season have shown the different threats that he will pose to Stones and Man City at the weekend. In his only appearance at Old Trafford he scored a header and also a penalty, while on his Premier League debut at Bournemouth he scored with a strike from outside the box.

Since the start of last season, only Lionel Messi (eight) has scored more goals from outside the box in Europe's top five leagues than Ibrahimovic (seven).

Ibrahimovic spent one season playing for Guardiola at Barcelona in 2009/10. However, despite scoring 22 goals and winning three trophies he returned to Italy with AC Milan the following summer after falling out with the Barca boss.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic v John Stones: The key battle in the Manchester derby
Only Luis Suarez has scored more goals than Zlatan Ibrahimovic since August 2015

Ibrahimovic may be out to show his former manager just what he can do this weekend; in his three appearances against Guardiola since leaving Barcelona, Ibrahimovic has scored once.

All that means John Stones will face his first significant test since swapping Merseyside for Manchester last month when he comes up against Ibrahimovic on Saturday. Despite Man City conceding a goal in each of their opening three Premier League games, Stones' performances have shown the quality that made Guardiola pay £47.5m for the 22-year-old Barnsley-born defender.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic v John Stones: The key battle in the Manchester derby
John Stones has the best passing accuracy at Man City

Last season saw Stones make three errors which led to goals, which was a joint-high by an outfield player in the Premier League. This season he has been more assured, and is yet to make an error which has led to a chance in the Premier League.

On the ball, Stones has showed his range of passing, completing 164 of his 179 attempted passes this season. He is the only player at Man City to have completed over 90 per cent of passes in the Premier League this season, and the only defenders in the Premier League with a higher passing accuracy are Eric Bailly (96 per cent) and John Terry (93 per cent).

A strong performance from Stones against Ibrahimovic on Saturday will go a long way to show any doubters that he has the defensive abilities, as well as the ball playing skills, to become a regular for both Man City and England for years to come.