After his £300,000 move to Hibs in the summer, there was a lot of buzz around Dylan Levitt’s arrival and what he may bring to the team. A neat-and-tidy midfielder who can play under pressure, make line-breaking passes and contribute with goals was just what the team needed.  However, things haven’t quite worked out so far this season. I thought it was worth looking back to his time with Dundee United to try and understand how Hibs can get the best out of him. 

Dundee United Stats 21/22 + 22/23 vs Hibs 23/24

Levitt worked under four managers during his time at Dundee United, all varying in their approach to style and identity. For the most part, he appeared to play in a 4231 / 433. According to StatsBomb, in the 2021/2022 season, Levitt predominantly played centre defensive midfield (CDM) and left centre midfield (LCM). During the 2022/2023 season he played a little deeper, playing most of his games in left defensive midfield (LDM). Fast-forward to this season, you can see Levitt has played in very similar positions; the only difference is that he has mostly played right defensive midfield (RDM) to accommodate Joe Newell. 

I wanted to highlight this metric because it shows that for Dundee United, Levitt played in a more advanced role and as aforementioned, usually played in a midfield three. The demands of playing in a trio are different from playing in a midfield two, which he has done for most of his time at Hibs and this is reflected in the following set of numbers. 

In the 21/22 season, Levitt had 31 key passes (i.e. passes that lead to a shot) with one leading to an assist. It is important to note that 13 of these passes, including his assist, came from corners.

In the 22/23 season, Levitt’s 25 key passes brought about three assists. 

This season so far for Hibs, Levitt has only managed one assist and seven key passes. 

Unsurprisingly, the number of shots and subsequent goals have dried up as he has only managed nine shots this season and scored one goal with an xG of 0.35. In both his seasons at Dundee United, Levitt managed 25+ shots, scoring ten goals overall with an xG of 1.62 (21/22) and 1.30 (22/23). 

Key stats have nosedived since Hibs switch

When analysing Levitt’s radars, one interesting find was that his pass completion percentage is well above the league average (84% compared to 77%), and his turnovers (how often a player loses the ball via a failed dribble or miscontrol) have fallen slightly. This could be perceived to be a positive aspect, and in some cases, it is - what team doesn’t want a midfielder who makes accurate passes and doesn’t give the ball away?

However, a further deep dive below shows that Levitt’s on-ball value (OBV) has plummeted since he has been at Hibs. OBV looks to assign a value to each action that takes place on the football pitch based on the positive (or negative) impact the action has on the team's likelihood of scoring and conceding. It’s fallen from 0.29 & 0.24 at Dundee United, well above the league average, to 0.07 at Hibs which is below the league average for this season. His deep progressions (passes and dribbles/carries into the opposition's final third) have also dropped at Hibs, as has his passing OBV.

Tailor-made for a three-man midfield with greater attacking options?

The figures further highlight what I previously mentioned about Levitt’s role in our 442 / 4411. We’ve seen that when he’s played a midfield two for Hibs, usually with Newell, he has struggled to impact the game in an attacking sense. He played an important role in our build-up play, but was often missed out or failed to get on the ball. When he did, the passes were likely to be bounced back or moved wide, which are important, but up the other end of the pitch, he usually took on the role of recycling the ball out the other side or back if the opposition recovered defensively. 

Overall, these stats won’t surprise many Hibs fans. 

In recent games, Nick Montgomery has shifted from a 442 to a more traditional 433 / 4231 set-up which I think will give Levitt a better platform on which to build his Hibs career. Newell has played deeper with Nathan Moriah-Welsh slightly higher, leaving Levitt as the player looking to transfer our build-up to more meaningful attacks. In addition, having Martin Boyle, Élie Youan and Myziane Maolida in the final third will give Levitt increased opportunities to make more forward passes and potential assists. However, Levitt has competition. We now have Luke Amos and Moriah-Welsh who can play alongside Newell, plus Emiliano Marcondes who has said he sees himself more as a ten, than an out-and-out striker. 

What next for Levitt?

It’s worth remembering that Levitt picked up a medial ligament tear in his knee in March 2023, ruling him out for the rest of that season. After signing for Hibs, he only got a run of 8-10 weeks before picking up an ankle injury that ruled him out for a further month, during which time the manager who probably had a say in his signing, Lee Johnson, was sacked.

We’ve been inconsistent under Montgomery and saw a reasonable turnover and arrival of players in January. It’s not an excuse, but further context to consider for a player who only turned 23 in November. With a three-year deal, we can assume Levitt will be a big part of the future at Hibs. I say assume, as we don’t quite know how our transfer policy will look with Bill Foley’s investment but we have other areas of the pitch to prioritise. With the formation tweak, Levitt needs to seize his opportunity and start to make more attacking contributions between now and the end of the season.