Which position does torres play

While Torres will be seriously missed by the national team, who are still secure their place at Qatar , he had become a more valuable player for Guardiola, as the Catalan coach manoeuvres his team to make the most of his assets. Despite the depth of quality attack-minded players at City, goal-scoring can still be a problem.

Of the seven matches they have played, they have failed to score in two and scored just once in two others. The fact that they have scored 12 in the other three games underlines the fact that when they get it right, City remain the most dangerous side in the Premier League. Torres started both victories over Norwich and Arsenal — having a goal harshly ruled out in the first before claiming two goals and an assist against the Gunners a week later.

Similar to the rise of his good friend Foden, Torres' emergence has been gradual and he is still not seen to have the experience to play in the biggest matches for his club just yet.

However, that trust is being earned, with consistently impressive performances pushing his claim to become a regular in a side that can still have problems in front of goal. The Spaniard will now return home for rest and recuperation.

That would have changed things. As it is, Manchester City are without a world-class striker. What we do not know yet is how much that will matter. When Tottenham beat them on the opening weekend of the Premier League season it was not only a result rich in narrative but a victory widely regarded as deserved. Still, it would not have escaped Guardiola that his side had the better chances.

There was the attempt that Joao Cancelo dragged wide. The shot by Riyad Mahrez that missed the target as he stumbled when well placed in the centre of the penalty box. There was Torres' failure to divert the ball into the net from close range in the second half.

Steven Bergwijn did go close to doubling the advantage given to Tottenham by Heung-Min Son's strike but Opta's expected-goals model told another story. Spurs outscored City but their chances would, on average, yield 1.

In other words, while the focus was on 'lacklustre' City, finishing was their biggest issue. The conclusion that Kane's prospective club missed him more than his current one was too irresistible to ignore - and there was one statistic that highlighted that more neatly than any other.

It helps to explain both his prowess and Manchester City's biggest concern. Kane has scored Premier League goals for Tottenham in the Premier League since making his debut in the competition in August That is more than any other player in that period. Impressive in itself. His expected-goals figure makes it even more so. Based on the data collected from many thousands of attempts of the same type from the same location, we can say that, on average, a player with the opportunities that Kane had to score would have Premier League goals to their name rather than goals.

Kane's undoubted finishing skill, all those unerring strikes low and hard into the corner of the net, have caused an uptick of 33 goals. No Premier League player has added more to their total than might have been expected based on their chances in this time. It does not fully explain his success - Kane's movement and skill enabled these chances and goals is still a huge number.

According to the expected-goals model, only Aguero had better opportunities with Kane outscoring him by five goals in this period. That highlights two important points.

Firstly, the quality of Kane's finishing. That certainly passes the eye test. Secondly, it suggests that Manchester City, as one might expect, provide a high level of service to their centre-forward.

His first goal for Liverpool came in the tie to Chelsea on 19 August Torres booked his first hat trick against Reading in the League cup on 25 September During his debut season Torres became the first player since Robbie Fowler to score more than 20 goals in one season.

During Liverpool's stunning run to second place in the season Torres scored a brace against Blackburn Rovers. His first goal which came in the fifth minute of play was a composed volley played off of his chest from right inside the 18 yard box.

His was the highest fee Liverpool had ever received for a player. It also made him the world's fourth most expensive footballer.