Pep Guardiola might have confirmed four Man City Starter vs Manchester United
The talking points as Manchester City thrashed Luton in the FA Cup at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday.
Celebrations for Manchester City after another goal at Luton
Celebrations for Manchester City after another goal at Luton
Pep Guardiola called his Manchester City players ‘Supermen’ for battling through the tiredness to record seven gritty points in the last week. He followed that up by declaring the next month as ‘defining’ if City wanted to enter April still in the hunt to retain their treble titles.
If the previous three games were attritional, characterised by wastefulness in front of goal but an improved back line, then the FA Cup win at Luton was arguably the opposite. City scored three goals from 71 efforts last week. At Luton, they notched six from 17 thanks to five from the imperious Erling Haaland.
As Haaland silenced some critics of his own, City showed their ruthless side in the cup to turn a very tricky tie into one of the most memorable wins of the season. United – and Liverpool, Arsenal and Copenhagen coming up – will be right to be worried after seeing two very different sides to City this week. If they can- put the solid defence together with the deadly attack, and City will be confident going into March’s run of must-win games across three competitions.
These are the talking points from Kenilworth Road on a rampant night for City:
Four starters ‘confirmed’ for United as Foden overtakes Bernardo
The starting lineup at Luton confirmed where Pep Guardiola’s priorities lay ahead of a week that sees City face Manchester United, Liverpool, and a Champions League last-16 second-leg. Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish started to build up some rhythm after their injury and fitness issues, but their inclusions still showed how seriously the manager was taking the cup tie. He could also have given Erling Haaland a rest after admitting the striker still isn’t fully fit, but opted to use this clash to build up that fitness rather than resting his tired legs. John Stones is another in the category of a player who could have been rested, but started in a show of strength.
So attention then switches to who wasn’t playing. Rodri’s absence from the starting XI significantly increases the chance of defeat, although City couldn’t afford not to give him a night off given the heavy fixture commitments coming up in the next month. Similarly, Phil Foden has become undroppable with his brilliant recent form, and looks a guaranteed starter at the Etihad for the derby on Sunday. For him to get the rest ahead of Bernardo Silva arguably means he is ahead of the Portuguese in the attacking pecking order.
In defence, there was only room for one of Stones, Ruben Dias, Manu Akanji and Nathan Ake to get a rest, realistically. Dias won that particular battle on Tuesday, and is another who will be expected to slot straight back against United. Ederson will replace cup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega when the Premier League returns. From the moment the teams were announced at Luton, the likelihood of Ederson, Dias, Rodri and Foden starting the derby increased to almost guaranteed, especially with none of them coming off the bench.
With Erling Haaland, John Stones, Bernardo Silva and Nathan Ake replaced early on 74 minutes, add another four names to the likely starters against United. De Bruyne feels another certain starter after his four assists on the night.
Haaland ‘shuts up’ his critics (again)
After an off-day at Bournemouth, Erling Haaland was substituted early on the south coast, despite City still needing a goal to kill the game. His recent goals have come amid some uncharacteristic wastefulness, and Pep Guardiola had to defend him after scoring the winner against Brentford to advise anyone against doubting the Norwegian because he will soon ‘shut you up.’ If there was more quiet questioning of Haaland’s finishing at the weekend – along with City’s lack of goals in general – then City silenced those critics within three minutes at Luton.
Kevin De Bruyne strode forward, took advantage of a slip, and Haaland made no mistake with the cutback. after struggling to score three goals from 71 shots in the previous three games, they needed just one shot to score here. Within 20 minutes, it was two – another De Bruyne assist down the middle, and Haaland was never going to miss. The Blues scored just three goals from their previous 71 attempts on goal, and had two goals from two shots here.
As Guardiola always says – there will only be an issue if the chances stop being created. Of those 71 shots in the previous three games, Haaland netted just one from 19 attempts, and he had suddenly added two more to his total in no time. By half time it was three as he chipped over Krul, and when Luton dared to dream with two Jordan Clark goals, Haaland had his fourth and fifth in just six minutes after Luton’s second.
It served as a reminder that City’s latest crisis only tends to last as long as the next game. As Guardiola said on Monday: this team just love to prove people wrong.
De Bruyne is back at the perfect time
From the first minute, Kevin De Bruyne was racing forward and looking to make up for lost time. He certainly didn’t look like a player who reported ‘niggles’ in his hamstring just seven days previously. With four assists for Haaland, De Bruyne now has 13 goals or assists in 11 games since returning from injury – or one every 40 minutes.
His link-up with Haaland was deadly at Luton, who simply couldn’t cope. Imagine how much fun they could have against Manchester United this weekend with more space and against another makeshift United defence.
While Jack Grealish looked distraught having seemingly suffered another setback, De Bruyne looked like he had never been away. He certainly didn’t look like someone with any concerns over the state of his hamstring, twisting and turning in the box in the second half after yet another lung-bursting run into the box. Guardiola identified the next month as season-defining, despite his squad’s underlying fitness concerns. With De Bruyne back with a glint in his eye, always looking for Haaland, it could be enough to pull City through the fatigue when it hits.
Where’s Rico?
Rico Lewis knows he sits behind Kyle Walker in the pecking order, so it may not be a surprise for him to be on the bench for the seventh game in a row at Luton, and ninth time in the previous ten matches. However, an FA Cup game immediately before a run of more difficult fixtures would equally be a perfect chance to keep Lewis fresh and firing. Instead, Kyle Walker captained the side at right-back having had a rest at Bournemouth, with Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes in midfield and Nathan Ake at left-back – ruling out Lewis appearing in one of his other possible positions.
It could be that this is the start of the run-in, with Pep Guardiola calling this fixture and the whole of March ‘defining’ for City’s treble hopes. The manager won’t make any selection calls on sentiment and it is up to Lewis to show he is worthy of starting. As much as he rested some key players, he also went strong at Luton and Walker provides width that Lewis doesn’t. It is also relevant that John Stones is back, and adds a different dynamic to the midfield than his less-experienced teammate.
Lewis played the last 14 minutes after City scored their sixth for his first minutes in almost a month. Still, last season and the start of the current campaign, Lewis was at least used off the bench and in rotation. But recently, he has returned to the bench and maybe needs something to force his way back into the side. As it stands, the quarter-final draw may be his best chance of a next start in two-and-a-half weeks’ time.
Derby fever begins early
The City fans who travelled down to Luton via train will have arrived at Manchester Piccadilly to see one of their club sponsors buy a row of the most prominent advertising hoardings at the station. ‘Derby day is different here’ read one slogan. ‘Nobody is neutral’ read another. ‘Derby Day. Birthday. Wedding day. In that order.’ was a third. Luton was first, but this was firmly the start of the derby week.
After seizing control of the game early at Luton, the City fans in the small away end at Kenilworth Road were able to begin their derby songbook ahead of schedule. Ditties about Old Trafford falling down, a certain 6-1 victory and others got airings before half-time, and the Blues faithful will see their side’s ruthless performance and dream of another high-scoring derby win on Sunday.
After Haaland’s fifth goal of the night, the fans really started to turn their attention to United. ‘Never felt more like singing the Blues,’ sang the away end – before the game they will have seen the news that even more United regulars are injury doubts. With Haaland in this mood and United self-imploding, the striker will be licking his lips at what he could achieve in his second Etihad derby after a hat-trick in his first.
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