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#3 Aymeric Laporte’s absence hurting City
Pep Guardiola has been unlucky with injuries this season. John Stones and Benjamin Mendy are already sidelined with injuries, while Kyle Walker also picked up a knock against Wolves. However, the biggest problem for Guardiola has been the absence of Aymeric Laporte in the heart of the City defense.
The Frenchman is one of the best defenders in the world at the moment, but he picked up a knee injury at the beginning of this season and is not expected to return any time soon. In his absence, Guardiola has been forced to play Fernandinho as the auxiliary center back and this has caused a couple of problems for the team. First, the Brazilian is not a traditional center back, and even though he has been impressive in the position, he still is vulnerable at the back, as was evident against Wolves.
Second, City has missed Fernandinho’s presence in the holding midfield role. Rodrigo has been a good replacement, but he has not been able to reach the Brazilian’s level of performance. Against Wolves too, this vulnerability in the City team was clearly evident.
