Antonio Blanco is a promising young Spanish defensive midfielder plying his trade with Deportivo Alaves in La Liga. His strongest attribute, clearly demonstrated by his standout season in 2023-2024, is his exceptional ability to play progressive passes, which situates him in the upper echelons of players in his position. Blanco also stands strong in aerial duels and is prolific in recovering the ball—attributes which have helped establish his defensive credentials.
For a defensive midfielder, he has a decent grasp of maintaining ball possession, however, his game highlights areas for improvement when it comes to chance creation and direct goal threat, both particularly low, signaling Blanco's proclivity for more traditional defensive duties. His performance in the progressive carrying metric is also rather low, suggesting the player to be less involved in carrying the ball up the field in offence.
Accuracy of passing seems an aspect Blanco needs to enhance as it dips below average whilst contributing to his modest threat in terms of assists and xA. Discipline on the field could also see some pencil work, given that the number of fouls he commits and yellow cards accumulated sit too close to the mid-point for comfort.
From a positional standpoint, Blanco is typically found marshalling the middle third of the field. A respectable presence is mounted in the defensive third, although the same can't be said for his influence in the attacking thirds. This inevitably sees lesser touch in the penalty areas—a testament reflecting his paramount duty of anchoring the defence and initiating play from behind rather than carrying attack to the fore. This young midfielder, despite his few weaknesses, shows the promise of honing into a true midfield general with time.
Antonio Blanco Key stats
Antonio Blanco Career Trend
Antonio Blanco Shot Maps
Antonio Blanco Shot Summary
In the 2024-2025 season, Antonio Blanco took 5 shots, scoring 0 goals. This output came from an Expected Goals (xG) of 0.37, averaging 0.07 xG per shot.
Right Foot: 0 goals from 4 shots. A 0.0% conversion rate. 0.08 xG per shot.
Left Foot: 0 goals from 1 shots. A 0.0% conversion rate. 0.04 xG per shot.
Headers: 0 goals from 0 headed attempts. A 0% conversion rate. 0 xG per shot.
