CM: Conor McGrandles – Florentino (Burnley) 87.41%
There is no doubt McGrandles is an unsung hero at City, although in fairness, the unsung bit is fading fast. This season, he’s been excellent, but I suspect he was last season and we just didn’t see it. Technically, he’s excellent, really good in close quarters and able to wiggle out of tight situations. His passing is spot on, and he’s a driving force behind our rise.
26-year-old Florentino is on loan at Turf Moor from Benfica, but he has the profile most akin to McGrandles. He plays defensive midfielder, or can be part of a two on the left, but has a similar engine and work rate to the Scottish Rodri. I guess he’s not that now, is he? The Scottish Florentino sounds a bit like a dessert, though.
CM: Tom Bayliss – Soungoutou Magassa (West Ham) 80.6%
I’ve dropped Tom in for a reason. Ivan Varfolomeev is one of the players most like McGrandles, and so if I were to run him against the PL players, I’d probably get Florentino again. In the spirit of diversity, I thought we’d give Tom his starting berth back and see who he comes up as.
His Premier League Mini-Me is French midfielder Magassa, who joined the Hammers from Monaco at the start of the season. It’s interesting that he is a centre back or defensive midfielder, and I see Bayliss as a little more progressive than that, but the comparison app doesn’t lie, and takes into account where they’ve played this season to determine their profile.
CAM: Ben House – Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) 72.75%
Jack Moylan robbed? Yes, but also I wanted to find out who was comparable to Ben House. If you like this article, I’ll do the rest of the squad and give Jack the comparison he deserves.
For now, it’s Ben House. We run a high-pressure approach, looking for turnovers up the field, and the Hungarian does the same for Liverpool. He’s won praise for his pressing from many quarters, so it stands to reason he would come out closest to House. In fairness, more of Ben’s minutes have come on the left than through the middle, but this is my article and I’ll arrange the players how I want.