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Premier League sides may enjoy squads that are as deep as any team in the world, but each team has its star man they do not want to lose.
Every side has its keystone, the man around whom their team-mates rally and draw inspiration from. For some sides, it is a rock-solid defensive player in the mould that John Terry used to be for Chelsea, but for many others, it is the wily playmaker who is capable of unlocking an opposing defence or a striker who is capable of scoring out of nowhere.
These are the men who are worth their weight in gold for their clubs, who are loved by the fans and who, above all, are decisive at the crucial moment.
Here, we examine who those players are and why they are so important to their clubs, be it providing the goals to fire them to success or the rhythm in the midfield that keeps them ticking.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola has his team playing so well, and with so many threats, that it is difficult to see a player that they rely upon more than any other. When one star drops out, another is capable of filling his space.
Perhaps the player who elevates them to an extra-special level, though, is Kevin De Bruyne. Since joining the club from Wolfsburg in 2015, he has gradually established himself as one of the best players in the world.
While he is a capable scorer, his main attributes are his creativity and ability to execute defence-splitting passes. These are central pillars of Guardiola’s tactics and his excellence in both fields means that the 26-year-old is likely to be a fixture in City’s first team for years to come.
That the player simply thrives on it is an added bonus. Speaking to Sky Sports this week, he said: “I always like to assist more than scoring. It gives me another feeling.
“When you score it's a great feeling but to give a great pass means it's something special for me. It's very under-rated what we do.
“Sometimes you just square the ball and somebody else shoots, but some assists are so nice and the passing is very important."
“We creators have a thing with the attackers. If they don't score you think: ‘Uh! I did such a great job and you're messing it up’. If we give a bad pass they're going to say: ‘What are you doing?’”
This attitude is the very essence of what Guardiola expects of his players.
Manchester United
It is no coincidence that Manchester United’s performances since the beginning of the season have declined since Paul Pogba sustained a hamstring injury.
Though the player who was once the world’s most expensive, as the Red Devils bought him back from Juventus in 2016, was the subject of criticism last term, his absence has been notable 12 months on.
Those players around him who were previously excelling have suddenly stopped. Romelu Lukaku has hit a goal drought since the Frenchman was sidelined, while the performances of Nemanja Matic have not been quite so assured.
Suddenly, Jose Mourinho’s decision to spend quite so big on the holding midfielder seems entirely justified.
He may not have the explosivity and match-defining qualities that he showed at times with Juve, yet his role in the team has changed, although since the arrival of Matic he has been freer to express himself as an attacking presence and this has, no doubt, aided his performances.
This was why Mourinho was so furious when he picked up his latest hamstring injury, with the manager hitting out at the lack of care he perceived his player took over his body.
His latest absence has been universally lamented, with club legends Paul Scholes and Bryan Robson notably commenting on how much the midfielder is being missed.
Hopeful of being fit for Sunday’s match against Chelsea, Pogba’s return will be most welcome.
Tottenham
When Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola branded Spurs ‘The Harry Kane’ team, he made it clear upon which player he thinks the London club lean upon for their success.
While Maurcio Pochettino can call upon the likes of Dele Alli, it is Kane who is the kingpin to their whole game plan – and given his goals return, it is easy to see why. Despite his incredible inability to score in August, the 24-year-old has been finding the net at a rate of roughly one goal per game this season and has been linked with a move to Real Madrid as a result.
He has proven himself to be no flash in the pan, either. Indeed, in his three full Premier League seasons to date, he has scored at least 20 times and nearly hit the 30-goal mark for the first time last season, falling just one goal short.
This time around, he’s well on course to break that barrier, having scored eight times in only nine matches – and that’s not to mention five in four Champions League encounters.
That’s not bad going for a player who was only given his chance in the first team four years ago because Roberto Soldado was misfiring.
He may not be quite considered a world-class forward, yet, but if he continues in this vain it will not be long before he is widely seen as a player of that ability – although that may require him to move to a bigger club.
Chelsea
While it may be Eden Hazard that provides much of Chelsea’s forward thrust, N’Golo Kante is undoubtedly the player they cannot do without. The Belgian is somewhat erratic in his form but the midfielder, by contrast, is a paradigm of consistency.
Signed from Leicester following his stellar exploits with the shock Premier League champions, Kante was a key reason why the Blues climbed to the top of the standings last term, offering his usual all-action style but supplementing it with a slightly more attacking approach.
It is no coincidence that the Blues have suffered from his recent absence due to thigh trouble, most notably defensively.
With him in their side, they conceded 0.78 goals per game in their first nine matches of the season in league and Champions League; without him they have lost an average of 2 per match.
These statistics make it abundantly clear how sorely he is missed from a defensive perspective, which is where the Blues have been suffering in his latest absence. The concession of the extra 1.22 goal per match has had a terrific impact on their results – and it is possibly even the reason why Antonio Conte finds his job under so much threat.
Chelsea cannot afford the 26-year-old to be out for an extended period. He may not be their most spectacular player, but he is certainly their most important.
Arsenal
It says much that manager Arsene Wenger turned down numerous approaches for Alexis Sanchez last summer, despite the fact that the attacker is free to leave the club in July should he not pen a new deal.
The Gunners could have made a healthy profit on the Chile star, despite the fact he had only 12 months left to run on his deal, yet they felt that the gamble of keeping him for another season would be worth forgoing around €50 million if he were to be sold.
Nevertheless, the ongoing uncertainty over the former Barcelona player is understandably a cause of great consternation for Arsenal fans, who correctly see the 28-year-old as the key hub in their side.
He has not been quite so spectacular this season, with only two goals and three assists to his name in nine outings, yet the creativity and pace he brings to the Emirates side undoubtedly elevates their level above the normal.
Indeed, the presence of such a talented player in a team that is almost wholly without any consistent offensive threat cannot be underestimated. He is, quite simply, a priceless commodity to a team that is otherwise plagued by inconsistency.
The Gunners have other stars, of course, but the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny have not proven themselves as consistently as the forward.
Things are tough in north London at the moment, and spending an extended period of time without Alexis does not bear thinking about. It is a reality that they may need to face up to come 2018, though.
Liverpool
Sadio Mane started the season in an explosive fashion for Liverpool, scoring in his first three outings of the season as the Reds made a positive start to the campaign. Things started to go wrong, however, when the attacker clattered Manchester City keeper Ederson with a high boot. City may have been 1-0 up at the time, but Liverpool were on top.
Mane’s red card was a watershed moment in their season. They went on to lose the game 5-0 and have struggled since then, with the Senegal star having served a two-game ban before picking up a hamstring injury that he will return from after the international break.
No sector of the Liverpool side has been spared from criticism. The defence may have been targeted early in the campaign, but since Mane’s injury, a lack of clinical finishing in the Reds’ ranks has come under fire. He provides that killer instinct to his side, having netted at the rate of almost once every two games last term in the Premier League.
Signed from Southampton in 2016, he has proven to be something of a revelation at Anfield – one of the major pluses of Jurgen Klopp’s first season in charge.
The champagne football of the early weeks of the campaign has gone and their defensive problems have been laid incredibly bare. Jurgen Klopp needs his best player back.
