Will CITY’s New Formation Bring Out the Best in Eduard Löwen?

CITY fans have seen Edu Löwen utilized in a number of different positions over the last two seasons but, no matter where he is positioned, the goals of Edu’s game remain the same: get the ball deep & then control the game.

One of the main consistencies in the preseason was Löwen’s positioning deep in the midfield. It’s not entirely new for CITY’s #10–he started dropping deeper into the defensive line last season—but what we’ve seen so far has been even more extreme. Which seems to play into exactly what he wants. Here are his heat maps from the last two seasons. As you can see, he played less on the left side and spread his play pretty evenly around the middle third and the edges of the other two thirds. 

In 2024 Löwen played in six fewer matches, with over 500 fewer minutes, and his assist tally dropped from a team-leading nine to just two. For those more analytically inclined readers, his expected assists numbers were actually BETTER this past season, 4.8, compared to 2023’s 3.7 xGA. (Both stats according to fbref.com) 

Either way, with Edu being able to dictate the attack in his preferred positioning, combined with a full season of work with the new attackers—and an overall team that is more solid at the back allowing him to focus on leading the attack—it’s safe to expect big actual and expected numbers from him in 2025.

I mean, just look at all that green. (All stats are per-90 and the percentiles are relative to other midfielders across the 2024 MLS season)