Comparing Manchester City's Stats with and Without Sergio Aguero

The importance of Sergio Aguero to Manchester City cannot be overstated. In terms of his brilliance on the pitch, few players in the City squad can claim to have contributed more than the Argentinian in recent seasons, with his unerring accuracy in front of goal one of Manuel Pellegrini’s most potent weapons.

His 25 league goals—31 in all competitions—this season are just further evidence of what we already knew: Aguero, at his best, is one of the finest finishers in world football.

His omission from the PFA Premier League Team of the Year becomes more and more absurd with each passing game. Harry Kane has had a fine campaign and deserves his elevated status after demonstrating his ability to score an array of different goals in a Tottenham side that, at times, has struggled, but he lacks Aguero’s quality and has scored five fewer league goals.

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Injuries have been less of a problem this campaign, too. Aguero has already managed 31 league appearances this season. If he plays in City’s final two matches, he’ll have played 10 more league games than he managed in City’s title-winning year.

Pellegrini’s medical staff are, quite rightly, criticised at times for the number of muscle injuries the squad suffer, but their handling of Aguero since his troubles last season has been worthy of praise.

Off the field, too, Aguero remains a vital part of City’s quest to be recognised as a top European side. He’s the club’s most marketable player, the kind who young kids across the world aspire to be.

But what do the stats look like when he has and hasn’t started in the league this season?

Given the small sample size of the games he’s missed, it’s difficult to draw too many conclusions, but according to data supplied by Duncan Alexander at Opta, City have coped well in his absence.

In terms of their win percentage, they have managed to secure three points in 57.1 percent of the league matches they’ve played with Aguero this season and 75 percent in the games he has failed to start. That’s an average of 2.5 points per game when he doesn’t start and just 1.9 when he does. They have won six and drawn two of the eight matches he hasn't started.

Perhaps even more surprising is that City’s number of average goals scored per match when he starts is, in fact, slightly lower than when he hasn’t been available from the beginning. They have scored 2.3 goals per game without him and 2.1 with him. Again, his absence doesn’t necessarily mean City are going to struggle.

They do, however, attempt more shots when he is in the side. Aguero is a player who likes to take the ball early and try to surprise goalkeepers with a shot from nothing, usually with minimal backlift. City average 12.9 shots per game when he starts and 11.3 when he doesn’t.

For those who feel City are overly reliant on Aguero, the facts suggest otherwise. Their win percentage of 75 percent in games in which he doesn’t start demonstrates their ability to cope without him, and last season, where he played just 23 matches in the Premier League, City won the title. The idea Liverpool lost the league rather than City won it, which was propagated throughout certain media outlets, was nonsense. 

Aguero is a vital player, one of the existing members of the City squad around whom the club will look to build their next phase of development, but City, it's clear, can handle themselves without him. 

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.