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Thread on Real Betis defender Aissa Mandi, the Algerian centre-back Liverpool are reportedly targeting this summer:
• At 28 years of age, Mandi is well into the peak of his career. He turns 29 in October, so will still have over 2 years on the receently departed Dejan Lovren, who joined Zenit for just under £11M. The Algerian is a younger, better defender, who is also much more versatile.
• The Algerian defender’s primary role is centre-back, so he will be more than comfortable filling in the ‘Lovren role’ of probably 15-20 games a season in all competitions. However, he has played at both full-back spots, as well as a limited number of games in the No.6 role.
• Unlike Lovren who made a measly 15 appearances in all competitions in the 19/20 season, Mandi has been an ever present, making 29 appearances in La Liga alone, as well as 1 appearance in the Copa del Rey. He also started all of his 29 appearances in the league.
• Surprsingly though, Mandi only kept a low number of clean sheets in his appearances last season, with Real Betis only managing 6 clean sheets in the matches in which he was a crucial part of the defence.
• However, in the 9 games in which the 28-year old didn’t feature, his side conceded a colossal 24 goals, which is around 2.67 goals conceded per game without him in the side.
• Then looking at when Mandi is in the team, Real Betis conceded 36 in 29 games, which equates to around 1.24 goals per game. This means that when the Algerian is at the heart of the defence, the team concedes, on average, less than half of the goals they do when he’s missing.
• When comparing this with Dejan Lovren, who had a much better defensive unit and goalkeeper surrounding him, the Croatian defender conceded 11 in 10 PL games, being a notable reason for the 3-0 loss to Watford.
• This brings Lovren’s goals conceded to 18 in 15 games. This surprisingly brings his goals conceded/per game to 1.2, which is even lower than Mandi’s. However, as stated, Mandi has had to deal with a forever shuffling Betis team, of quite low quality, unlike Liverpool’s team.
• These stats seem to suggest that, surrounded by the likes of Robertson, van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold, as well as having midfield support from Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Henderson, as well as the world-class Alisson behind him, Mandi should be a much better option than Lovren.
• This hypothesis is further supported when looking at famous football statistic site, WhoScored. The site states that a strong, positive trait of Mandi is his top-class concentration levels, rarely losing focus in key moments. This is one of Lovren’s greatest flaws.
• Mandi is also extremely confident in his passing ability. Although Lovren registered an assist in the 19/20 PL season, and Mandi did not in his own La Liga campaign, it is widely accepted that the Algerian’s passing ability is phenomenal for a defender.
• His top passing ability would be perfect for Liverpool’s style of playing, which often involves cross-field balls to Sadio Mane or Mo Salah, as well as key passes through the midfield to the furthest forward midfielder, as well as Firmino.
• Unlike Lovren who often altered our style of play when in action, Mandi would seemingly do no such thing. His confidence on the ball would allow for Klopp’s men to continue playing as planned, rather than tweaking the team to cater for the Croatian centre-back’s limits.
• Mandi also has a higher pass completion % than Lovren, with the 28-year old completing just under 90% of passes, with the former Red completing just over 85%.
• However, quite a surprising stat to point out about Mandi in comparison to Lovren is that his aerial ability and aerial duel win rates is poor compared to the 31-year old. On average, Mandi wins 2.1 aerial duels per game and Lovren 4.5, over double.
• To begin the conclusion of this piece on Mandi, as it seems that low fees will be the norm for Klopp’s side this summer, it is reported that Mandi will cost just under £10M, meaning that the Reds can sign the Algerian for a slightly lower fee than Dejan Lovren departed for.
• However, as is the issue with Mane, Salah and Keita, Mandi will depart for the AFCON when it takes place in January 2022, and future ones too.
• Depsite this though, I’d say this isn’t really an issue. He wouldn’t be a starter, and would only be used as cover, so it wouldn’t be a huge loss. It would also be expected that Van den Berg and Hoever would be more than capable of covering in 1-2 years time.
• As a whole though, I’d say that for the sake of just under £10M, with the need for reliable cover at centre-back due to Lovren’s departure, and Matip and Gomez’s injuries, Mandi is worth the punt to give VDB and Hoever a couple years more experience.
• Thanks for reading everyone. What does everyone think about the potential signing of Aissa Mandi? 
