Micah Richards starts his 201st game for Manchester City this weekend after nailing down a regular starting spot, during a spell that has coincided with the Eastlands club Custom Soccer Jerseys blazing a trail at the top of the Premier League.
Such is Richards' regular presence at right-back position this season, it came as something as a novelty to see Pablo Zabaleta putting in a shift at that position during Wednesday's victory against Villareal in the Champions League.
Last season was very different, with Zabaleta notching up 26 league appearances, while Richards only managed to get on manager Roberto Mancini's team sheet a meagre 18 times.
The reason for this shift is largely due to the renewed form shown by the England hopeful as he has won over manager Roberto Mancini in the way he wants to win over England boss Fabio Capello.
There is an emphasis at City this season to invest faith in home grown talent, with Richards, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Barcelona Jersey 2011 and Adam Johnson all seeing regular action, despite the long list of foreign talents at the manager's disposal.
So far, it's working, with the club five points clear at the top of the table - with an impressive goal difference to boot.
Micah Richards' presence in the side helps that record at both ends of the pitch.
He often gains attention for his incursions into the opposition half, marauding down the wing to provide a through ball or cross to his star-name colleagues, while striving to get himself into the opposition box whenever play allows.
Richards has gained four assists in the campaign so far, a figure only bettered at Real Madrid Jersey by the tricky talents of David Silva and Samir Nasri.
Richards has cut out the occasional defensive lapses that put his presence in the starting line up into question, leaving Zabaleta kicking his heels on the bench during Premier League afternoons.
During the win at Villareal, Mancini experimented with a subtle change to his line up, moving Milner to a deeper position alongside Nigel De Jong to shore up a defence that has failed to keep a clean sheet in its last three Premier League matches.
During those matches, City scored a combined 13 goals, so the odd goal against may not seem to be of much consequence.
But Fantasy League managers will be keen to see some recognition of the need to be tighter at the back after a glut of matches where top flight teams apparently checked in their defences at the door.
This weekend, Juventus Jersey face a QPR side that have conceded 10 goals in their last four league outings.
Rangers could well be forced to defend deep in their own half for much of the encounter, because the key midfield match-up between Silva and Shaun Derry looks to be a one-sided affair.
If QPR do have trouble breaking out of their own territory, the odds of a City clean sheet will look favourable, while Richards will have opportunities to press up the pitch, increasing his chances of a fifth assist of the season, or even his first goal of the campaign.
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