Daily Star

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them in that game. The last thing Jose Mourinho needs is to play them again.

I think he’s relieved to be out of the League Cup. You have to give credit to Guardiola. He saw what he needed and went out to get it. City needed a goalkeeper, a right-back and a left-back. They paid top dollar and got them.

It’s made a massive difference and they haven’t looked back.

They have the luxury of being able to rotate now, and if they make five changes, they can bring in five top internatio­nals.

They are so far in front in the league that they can rest players for their Champions League games, and they may not even put out their strongest team in the League Cup semis now. The FA Cup might end up being the hardest one for them to win. I always think it’s the draw that wins you the FA Cup. They got a nice home draw this time round but that could be different next time if they get through and are suddenly faced with a tougher test and have to prioritise. They are great to watch, but the one thing I would say is that it’s easier for them now than it was for that United team. The league is changing. There is a much bigger gulf between the teams at the top and the teams at the bottom now. Some of the smaller teams are just trying to keep the score down against City. We probably shouldn’t get too carried away by last week’s 4-1 win over Tottenham, either.

I looked at that Spurs line-up and gave them no chance. You can’t win at City with Eric Dier at centre-back. He’s too casual. He’s a good holding midfielder but a very average centre-back.

They are really missing the injured Toby Alderweire­ld, because he’s the best defender in the world for me. And without Victor Wanyama, they had nobody to win the ball back.

I’m not surprised they lost. They were never going to win with that team.

City could break all sorts of records this season but they probably won’t have a player winning the Golden Boot.

If they do it will be Aguero, because he is capable of scoring four in a game. But their goals are spread around the team and they don’t rely too much on any one player.

Of all the teams chasing them, I think Chelsea will probably be their biggest challenger­s now.

But it’s hard to see anyone catching them.

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