Premier League 2018-19, Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester City: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

Manchester City had to settle for second place yet again after Liverpool won their match against Chelsea later in the day.
Manchester City had to settle for second place yet again after Liverpool won their match against Chelsea later in the day.

#3 Kevin De Bruyne looks sharp and back to his best

Kevin De Bruyne provided two assists against Crystal Palace, his first and second assist of the season
Kevin De Bruyne provided two assists against Crystal Palace, his first and second assist of the season

Kevin De Bruyne was the best player on the pitch last season for Manchester City. The Belgian was almost untouchable on many occasions as Manchester City won the Premier League with a record number of points. The central midfielder also won the inaugural Premier League Playmaker of the season award with the Belgian bagging 16 assists.

This season though, the Belgian has found it hard to find the form of last season with injuries at almost regular intervals keeping the midfielder out of action on more than one occasion. The performances in the matches in which he has played this season have also been far from the level of what we expect from the Belgian.

Today though, the Belgian showed the EPL yet again why he is so highly rated. He ran the show for Manchester City from the midfield and illustrated what City was missing from their midfield. It was De Bryune inch-perfect through ball that set Raheem Sterling free to score the first goal of the match, surprisingly it was the first assist of the season for the 27-year old.

The Belgian was superb against Palace, pulling off some brilliant passes, defending and cutting out the free spaces and always keeping Manchester City on the front foot. It was the Belgian who provided the assist for Jesus to score the third and final goal of the match for Manchester City, his second of the season.

The return to form of the Belgian midfielder is sure to give Guardiola more to think about ahead of their second leg against Tottenham Hotspur in the weekend with the return of Bernardo Silva also likely to give more selection headaches for the Spaniard.

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