Media View: Expert insight on Man City

Goals from Antoine Semenyo and Philip Billing saw the Cherries come from behind to triumph 2-1 against Burnley as head coach Andoni Iraola celebrated his first top-flight win.

Iraola’s team meet Manchester City at Etihad Stadium fresh from Pep Guardiola’s men registering a convincing 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Erling Haaland’s double, his first from the penalty spot, and a goal from Phil Foden completed a hat-trick of wins for City following an uncharacteristically indifferent run of results.

Having exited the Carabao Cup at the hands of Newcastle at the end of September, City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season when they went down 2-1 against Wolves.

And although they beat RB Leipzig in the Champions League, Gabriel Martinelli’s late goal condemned them to a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal as they suffered back-to-back reverses in the top flight.

Despite drawing a blank against the Gunners, Erling Haaland has netted five times in his past three games, the Norway international taking his personal tally for the season to 16 for club and country.

Ahead of Saturday’s clash, afcb.co.uk caught up with Sam Lee who covers the fortunes of City for The Athletic.

MANCHESTER CITY PROFILE

Founded: 1880

Ground: Etihad Stadium

Nicknames: The Citizens, City

Record appearances: Alan Oakes – 680 games (1959-76)

Record goalscorer: Sergio Aguero – 260 goals in 390 games

Manager: Pep Guardiola (appointed July 2016)

League position: Third

Leading goalscorer domestically: Erling Haaland (13 in all competitions)

Last game: Manchester United 0 Manchester City 3 (Premier League)

afcb.co.uk: Summarise the season so far for City?

SL: Given that they won the treble and you would normally have concerns about complacency, especially after winning three Premier Leagues in a row and finally winning the Champions League, it’s been good.

The fact they lost two Premier League games in a row shows that there have been downs as well as ups.

Although they had so many injuries at the start of the season, they still coped really well.

But it made a new team look even newer in the sense that some key players left and new ones came in but the new ones had more responsibility than maybe they are ready for at the moment.

Guardiola was throwing together different pieces and different combinations of players that he wouldn’t have done last season.

But the derby last weekend was more like the team that won the treble last season and I think that shows they are on the right path. 

afcb.co.uk: Which of their summer signings has impressed the most?

SL: Joško Gvardiol (pictured above), just for the fact that he’s 21 and was chosen and trusted to start against United at Old Trafford and Arsenal at the Emirates.

In those games, he had a lot of responsibility with the ball. He had a bit of a shaky start against United but he was great overall.

He hasn’t played every game, he shares the minutes with Nathan Aké, who was a big part of the treble win. But getting that trust from Guardiola, he’s shown his quality already.

Others have been impressive as well, Jérémy Doku has been eye-catching and definitely deserves a mention but Gvardiol just for that trust in the big games and being a bit more consistent.

afcb.co.uk: How has Nathan Aké (pictured above) fared this season?

SL: It was a shame for him to get injured towards the end of last season because he had really established himself in the team.

He got injured in April and only made it back on the pitch in the final minutes of the FA Cup final. But fortunately for him, he played in the Champions League final and did really well.

Going into this season, he’s been absolutely fine. He had a bit of a horror show against Wolves, I think he said it was his worst-ever performance. He might have been a bit harsh on himself in light of the defeat.

Overall, he’s been great. He’s one of the City defenders that’s really trusted. That’s not the case for all of them because I think City fans sometimes look at Manuel Akanji a bit suspiciously.

But with Aké, he’s got none of those problems and the fans really love him. Even though Gvardiol is doing so well, Ake is one of Guardiola’s main guys.

afcb.co.uk: Are teams trying to play Haaland (pictured above) differently now?

SL: I suppose there’s going to be some development in terms of the finer details.

But I think given how he started last season and so many goals, teams were on alert by September at the very latest.

Teams that are comfortable sitting back and playing five at the back, they were doing that anyway.

Teams that were comfortable in trying to stop him having the ball, like Brighton in terms of wanting to have possession and being a bit braver, they would do that anyway.

I think teams are always inclined to defend him in a way that they were comfortable doing.

But now maybe they’ve seen that if you can get two men around him and really keep a watch on him then maybe they are adapting to that.

But I haven’t noticed any major changes having seen City every week for the past few years and last season when Haaland was there.

There were a lot of five-man defences and that kind of thing and, generally, I would say that’s been the main approach this time as well. 

afcb.co.uk: It’s almost 12 months since City last lost a home league game – how do you stop them?

SL: That Brentford game shows the blueprint – defending well and counter-attacking.

You are relying on City not having their best day and you need to be ruthless with your chances, and they scored right at the end.

Teams can be adventurous like Brighton or Liverpool but if we’re talking about a team like Bournemouth, who may get to a stage where they can do something different if Andoni Iraola were to stay long term, I think the defensive, counter-attacking approach is best for now.

Like we saw with Wolves and Gary O’Neil, he wants to play more expansive football but just decided to dig in against City and play on the counter-attack and it worked.

I think that is probably the best blueprint but you are also hoping for City to not have their best day and miss a lot of chances because they will still create.

If you sit back and defend and dig in then it does give you more of a chance of snuffing out Haaland because it is harder for City to get him in the game when there’s no space.

afcb.co.uk: Are any key players either injured or suspended against the Cherries?

SL: Just Kevin de Bruyne who injured his hamstring 23 minutes into the Burnley game on the first night of the season. All the others are back.

Rodri’s back from his ban which was a big problem, while John Stones is back after being out for a long time.

Akanji (pictured above) was banned for the derby but is also back. City are pretty much at full strength now.

afcb.co.uk: How do you see the game panning out and what’s your score prediction? 

SL: It would be difficult to suggest anything other than a comfortable win for City.

Bournemouth showed last season at the Etihad that you can keep Haaland quiet but City can still tear you apart with others.

De Bruyne was a big part of that and Haaland could have scored a tap-in if Phil Foden had passed to him.

But I would imagine something like last season, maybe 3-0 or 4-0.

City have found it difficult to keep clean sheets this season and the one against United was the first in a while. But I would expect a comfortable City victory.

You can follow Sam on X (formerly Twitter) – @SamLee

Officials: Craig Pawson (referee), Marc Perry (assistant), Steven Meredith (assistant), Anthony Backhouse (fourth official), Simon Hooper (VAR).