Manchester City return from the international break this evening as they prepare to take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at The Etihad.
Pep Guardiola has had two weeks to formulate a plan to turn his side’s fortunes around after they went into the last international break of the year off the back of four defeats in succession.
One of those losses came at the hands of Spurs, at their ground, in a 2-1 win for Ange Postecoglou’s team in the League Cup, thanks to goals from Pape Matar Sarr and Timo Werner.
The Cityzens have also lost their last two matches in the Premier League, against Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion, and find themselves five points behind Liverpool in the race for the title.
Matt O’Riley’s winning goal off the bench for Brighton last time out, five minutes after Joao Pedro had equalised for the hosts, was the most recent blow for City.
They have now had two weeks to prepare for this clash with Tottenham and look set to have some of their stars back and available for selection.
The latest Manchester City team news
Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias, Oscar Bobb, Rodri, and John Stones were all absent from the squad for the 2-1 defeat to Brighton last time out, with two of them now set to return against Spurs.
The Standard have reported that Grealish and Stones have both been pictured in training for Manchester City this week, which is set to provide Guardiola with a boost at both ends of the pitch.
With Dias also out, the manager turned to academy graduate Jahmai Simpson-Pusey from the start against Brighton and the youngster lost three of his four aerial duels in the defeat.
Appearances
6
Goals
2
Ground duel success rate
80%
Aerial duel success rate
67%
Pass accuracy
87%
As you can see in the table above, Stones has been a dominant force at the back when available in the Premier League and could come in to improve City’s defence this weekend.
Meanwhile, Grealish, who has created 15 chances in seven Premier League games this season, could return to provide competition to Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes on the left flank.
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The Standard also stated that Kevin de Bruyne has been in training with the Cityzens and Guardiola must now ruthlessly ditch Ilkay Gundogan from the starting XI to make space for the Belgian star.
Why Ilkay Gundogan should be dropped
Firstly, the 34-year-old central midfielder played 72 minutes of the defeat to Brighton and failed to offer much to the team at the top end of the pitch.
He was reliable enough with the ball at his feet, completing 93% of his attempted passes, but did not provide any creativity or quality to open up the Brighton defence. The German whiz ended the match with zero key passes and zero ‘big chances’ created for his teammates.
Gundogan’s struggles in the final third have been constant since his return to Manchester City on a free transfer from Barcelona in the summer transfer window, as he has failed to get back to the kind of performances he displayed in the past for the club.
The veteran midfielder has scored 61 goals and provided 39 assists in 319 appearances in all competitions for the Cityzens, but has only produced one goal and one assist in 15 outings since his return.
Appearances
10
Goals
0
Big chances created
0
Key passes per game
1.5
Ground duel success rate
49%
As you can see in the table above, Gundogan is yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League this season and has not created a single ‘big chance’ for his teammates.
This suggests that the former Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona star has not provided a consistent threat in the final third from a midfield position for City, which they have needed when you consider that they have failed to score more than one goal in each of their last three matches in the top-flight.
Therefore, Gundogan should be ruthlessly dropped down to the bench for this clash with Tottenham to provide another player with a chance to shine.
The player Guardiola should replace Gundogan with
Guardiola must unleash de Bruyne from the start against Spurs, in place of the German midfielder, to provide his quality at the top end of the pitch.
The Belgium international, whose footballing brain was described as “ridiculous” by Thierry Henry, made his return from injury by coming off the bench against Sporting and Brighton before the international break, and should now start for the first time.
De Bruyne, who has scored 103 goals and provided 171 assists in 390 games for City, is a midfielder who can consistently impact games in the final third at the top level.
The 33-year-old star scored four goals and created a staggering 21 ‘big chances’ in just 15 starts in the Premier League during the 2023/24 campaign, whilst Gundogan is yet to create any ‘big chances’ in ten league outings this term.
Appearances
5
Starts
4
Goals
1
Big chances created
3
Key passes per game
3.2
As you can see in the table above, de Bruyne also had a terrific start to the current campaign before his latest injury, with four goals and ‘big chances’ created in just four starts, along with more than twice as many key passes per game in comparison to Gundogan.
To put it simply, the Belgian magician is a world-class creative talent who has consistently proven his ability to make things happen in the final third for City, particularly at Premier League level, and that is why he should be brought back into the XI.
He has had two substitute appearances and an extra two weeks of training without any competitive matches to get himself in a position to start, and Guardiola must unleash him ahead of Gundogan at The Etihad against Spurs this evening.
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