As we now approach the main chunk of the football season with no international fixtures till March attention will turn once again to the Premier League and inevitably at this point talk of Manchester City.
The blues are eight points clear at the top of the table but have a potentially tricky tie ahead of them this weekend. Leicester City have been City’s nemesis in recent seasons and Everton aside, provided Pep Guardiola with his most humbling experience since his move to England last season.
City have improved dramatically but still play a system which – if exposed – plays right into Leicester’s hands. When they met at the King Power last year, City found themselves 0-2 down after only five minutes as Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez exploited the gaps behind City’s defence to ruthless effect.
But Guardiola will have remembered that and will surely be drilling into his troops the importance of not being caught out early in a stadium which needs no encouragement to create an atmosphere.
City have some potential selection issues ahead of the match too, with Nicolas Otamendi suspended and Sergio Aguero’s bizarre misfortune continuing, as he suffered a black-out whilst playing for Argentina against Nigeria in mid-week.
Ideally, Vincent Kompany would return to partner the excellent John Stones, but that seems unlikely meaning one of Eliaquim Mangala or Danillo are likely to fill in.
The sense of trepidation would be palpable among City fans should Mangala line up against the pace of Vardy. The Frenchman did not cover himself in glory when he played against Wolves in the League Cup last month and the thought of one of the league’s quickest players running at him isn’t worth thinking about.
But City will not spend too much time worrying about the opposition. As mentioned, this is not the same City team that turned up a year ago. Leicester’s Claude Puel will be facing the same conundrum that every other manager has faced – how do you stop City scoring.
City will want to keep the pressure on rivals United who play after them (albeit at home to Newcastle which should see them pick up three points) and will fear nobody this season.
