City lack bite without pass master Kevin

WOLVES deserve immense credit for taking the game to Manchester City. Even if they had lost that game 2-1, their supporters would have gone home enthused that their side had given it a really good go against one of the world’s best teams. How many times last season did we see home teams sit back and put up little resistance when Pep Guardiola’s champions came to town? Wolves set an example to the rest of the Premier League that with your fans roaring you on, you can be open and expansive against this team. What this match also showed is just how much City miss Kevin De Bruyne. It is no coincidence that since his debut, City have won just six of the 14 games he has missed. David Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are all brilliant midfielders but none can split a defence with a scything, 30-yard pass quite like City’s injured magician. When I interviewed De Bruyne last season, he told me how he wants to take risks in the final third to create as many chances as possible. At Molineux they lacked a player who was prepared to gamble in possession. Leroy Sane, a second-half substitute, can open up a team with a dribble but he is not yet at boiling point. Has his confidence been knocked by his axe from Germany’s World Cup squad? With Liverpool starting strongly and De Bruyne out for three months, City need the likes of Sane to step up.