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The Premier League is well underway and into its 7th week. Last year's winners sit nicely in the second spot, 2 points behind leaders Liverpool who has maintained a perfect record by winning all of their first 6 games. The Citizens are the league's leading top scorers at the moment, with 19 goals to their names and with a goal difference of 16, conceding just 3 goals. The reigning Premier League champions look to build their own era after winning the English first division under Pep Guardiola in his second season in charge. The most impressive thing was they did that in style, winning by a record points difference (19), winning most consecutive games (18) in a 38-game season, winning most consecutive away games (11), most points (100), most goals (106) and so on.
They have started the season with 5 wins, including a 6-1 and a 5-0 win, one draw and one loss in the only Champions League game so far. Given the records they broke last season, there will be a lot of pressure on them this season to build upon the standards they've set and to win back to back Premier League titles, something that has not been done since the 2008/09 Manchester United won it three times in a row. While the Citizens would love to scare their neighbours of losing their record, they would also want to win the Champions League this season, something they came close to winning in Manuel Pellegrini's last season as manager. At the moment, the Citizens have the squad, the management and the support of their fans to do so, but what will be the preferred XI throughout the season?
Let's look at the most probable starting XI that Pep may go with this season. He will continue to work with the 4-3-3 that he has mastered in almost every team that he has managed and successfully so.
Goalkeeper: Ederson Moares
Manchester City played Chelsea in the Community Shield with veteran Claudio Bravo starting in the goal. The Chilean has become a second choice goalkeeper after playing his first season in England as the first choice under Guardiola. Although Guardiola bought him from Barcelona in his first season in charge, he could not get him to work the way he wanted so bought another goalkeeper, younger and better with the ball at his feet.
Ederson signed from Benfica in the summer window of Guardiola's second season in charge. The Citizens splashed a then World record fee of 35 million euros to get the Brazilian from Benfica. Since his arrival at the Etihad Stadium, Ederson has been the first choice goalkeeper, playing most of the games and the crucial ones too. His involvement in the team saw Guardiola apply his footballing philosophy to the team with perfection. Apart from his goalkeeping attributes, Ederson's ball distribution quality is also something that attracted interest from Pep. He was a vital player for the Champions and would like to continue that.
In the first 6 Premier League games, he has been the number 1 choice for Pep and has kept 3 clean sheets. He also started the Champions League game against Lyon that the Citizens lost 1-2 at Etihad Stadium.
Despite not being the no.1 choice for his National team during the World Cup, he will look forward to keeping his place between the sticks this season again for the English Champions.
Defenders: Walker, Stones, Laporte, Mendy
Right Back: Kyle Walker
Full-backs are very important in Pep Guardiola's set up and that is why he replaced all his fullbacks last season whilst spent almost 150 million euros in signing the replacements. One such replacement was Kyle Walker. The former Spurs man turned out to be an upgrade more than a replacement, something that is evident from the form that he has been in for Manchester City last season and England during the World Cup. Walker has excelled not only as a right back but as a professional footballer. He played as a center back in Russia and was a formidable option for Gareth Southgate.
His performance for the English National Team was applauded by most pundits and Walker thanked his current club coach Pep Guardiola for the improved positional play.
Danilo has been more than a backup for the Englishman. He is often placed at the left back by Pep whenever required and has played as a wing-back when there was a change of formation. He came to Manchester to play regular football and has been given ample of playing time, at least more than that he was given in Madrid. A feature of those appearances was Mendy’s and Delph’s injuries. Danilo is injured now and it will be interesting to how much playing time he will see this time around, once he is fit, given that Walker has started all the games at the right back position since the beginning of the new season.
Centre Backs: John Stones, Aymeric Laporte
John Stones was signed by Manchester City from Everton, for £50 million in August 2016, a record amount for a defender at that time. He was tipped to be one of the best centre backs in the World as soon as he signed for City under Pep Guardiola. To this date, he is still tipped to be one of the best CBs in the World, but this time he has shown signs of improvement in his playing style along with leadership qualities. His World Cup performances showed that he can perform under pressure and play the ball from the back. He has been pivotal for Pep as his philosophy settled into a Manchester City team that has broken records since his arrival. It has not only helped the team but has also made Stones a better player. Rumours of him moving away have been shot down by Guardiola himself.
Another young defender in Guardiola’s XI is Ayemric Laporte. Signed from Athletic Bilbao in the January transfer window, Laporte fit into Guardiola’s team instantly, passing the ball as if he has been under Pep since Pep started his managerial career.
Both Laporte and Stones will face a threat from experienced Kompany and Otamendi as is evident from the choice of team that Pep has shown in the first 7 games of the season.In the season opener against Arsenal, Pep went with Stones and Laporte in the middle of the defence. He has kept Laporte as a regular in the team, making him a first choice centre back in all 7 games of the season, but has rotated the other centre back, playing stones in 4 of these games and Otamendi in 2 of the latest Premier League games. Vincent Kompany has been part of 2 games but the club captain has been troubled by his regular injuries and the Argentine’s World Cup has been questionable. So for now, the youngsters are enjoying game time and are doing themselves a favor by playing well against the opposition. They are likely to play more than the older duo throughout the season.
Left Back: Benjamin Mendy
Benjamin Mendy has been a social media sensation for quite some time now. Apart from that, his performances for AS Monaco brought him to the attention of major European clubs and Manchester City, who were then looking to refresh their full back roster, grabbed the Frenchman for 52 million euros. After spending almost the entire last season out because of an injury and losing his National team place to Lucas Hernandez, Mendy has performed very well since the beginning of this season. He has recorded 3 assists in 3 games for the defending champions and looks fresh and roaring for the season ahead. Although the Frenchman started the first 3 games for the Champions but has been benched by Pep for the last 3 games, including the Champions League loss to Lyon, due to injury but when he is fit, he is surely gonna get hold of his spot in the starting XI.
Midfielders: Bernardo Silva, Fernandinho, David Silva
Manchester City’s midfield is both good and bad news for Pep. Good because he has great options to choose from, all full-time internationals and highly talented, and bad because he has to choose only 3 out of a pool of half a dozen world class players. As Pep’s tactics involve shifting his holding midfielder between the defenders and playing the ball from the behind, Fernandinho is a very important player for him. He has been pivotal for the Spaniard as his passing and game reading skills are among the best in the World. Despite being 32 years old, he has looked to improve under Pep, just like fine wine ages. He has started all of the 7 games this season, showing the importance he holds in the team. Despite the young centre backs’ emergence as elite ball playing defenders, the Brazilian is still the go to man when the defence faces problems in bringing the ball out from the back.
While Fernandinho provides the defensive cover to the back four, Bernardo Silva and David Silva are the two midfielders that are responsible for the creative attacking play that links the defence with the attack. The defence splitting passes and the once in a few games goals will be supplied by these two Silvas for the moment as Kevin De Bruyne is out injured for a minimum of 3 months. His absence is a loss for the team but they can cope with it due to the quality of midfielders they have in their ranks. Ilkay Gundagon will also expect game time as he is a player who can play as the destroyer as well as the creative link and might overshadow Fernandinho come the end of the season.
From changing the shape of the team to changing the personnel, Pep has rotated his squad heavily in the first 7 games of the season. While Fernandinho has started all the games, Gundagon and David Silva have started 5 games each while Bernardo Silva has been used in the wide regions as well during these games. It has been an experimental period for Pep and his team as he is looking for the perfect winning formula.
The likes of Foden and Diaz will look to get some valuable minutes under their belt this season as the season is long and Manchester City will compete on all possible fronts for all possible trophies.
Attackers: Mahrez, Aguero, Sane
Guardiola's options up front are amazing. All of his options would be guaranteed starters anywhere else. At Manchester City though, these players get benched. Gabriel Jesus is no more a prodigy, he is a proven goalscorer now and is the present and future of the Manchester City forward line, but at the moment, he is being outscored by his senior strike partner, Sergio Aguero. The Argentine has been in fine form for Pep and his team and has started the season on a high, scoring 2 against Chelsea in the community shield and further scoring 3 goals in first 5 games for the reigning champions. Many were starting to write off the experienced Argentine last season but he has come right back at them with his feet doing the talking on the field. Aguero will be expected to start all the major clashes in all the four major titles that the Citizens are going to battle for.
On the wings, the competition gets tougher. Raheem Sterling is a right footed forward who prefers playing on the right, as is preferred by his coach also. He has been in fine form and has also scored 3 goals in 5 league games, equaling the club's main goalscorer's stats in the initial stage of this season. His place in the team may come under attack, as the season varies, by the newly signed Algerian winger, Riyad Maharez. The former Leicester City man has looked good and confident while adapting to the playing style of his new coach. Given his experience and his record along with his signing fees, he is highly likely to make the starting XI in crucial matches ahead of the Englishman.
While Sterling can play on the left as well, that place was certainly owned last season by Leroy Sane. The German just missed the World Cup Squad and was left out by his club coach for the first few matches. To silence his critics and those who doubted him, Sane scored a goal inside 2 minutes of his return to Premier League football. He was a key member of the squad that won the Premier League title last season and will hope to continue being an important member of the team, albeit he has more competition this term regardless of the fact that Bernardo Silva plays on the wing or the central midfield. As the season goes on, Sane will look to solidify his place in the starting XI and attain the form that he was in during large parts of last season.
Aguero has started all but one of the 7 games, the same number of games started by Sterling. Sane has been a part of 2 games this season but will hope to play more as the season goes on, The new signing, Maharez, has started just one game, bringing to notice the competition for a starting place in the squad.
