Defeat at Villa would really pile the pressure on Guardiola’s Blues
AMID the turmoil of the doomed European Super League, it is easy to forget City visit Aston Villa tonight looking to move one step closer to the Premier League title.
Here are four key issues for Pep Guardiola’s men...
■ 2012 REVISITED
ANYTHING but a victory at Villa Park would kick the door open for a tense finish to the Premier League season for City, with United poised to pounce.
Eight points ahead with six games left has a familiar ring, as the Reds and Blues were in a reverse situation in 2012, when United blew up, and City snatched the title on that never-to-be-forgotten final day.
One big difference is that City vs United was a crucial element in those remaining six games, nine years ago, something which will not happen this time. But after a dismal showing against Chelsea at Wembley in the
FA Cup, a win is vital to dismiss any creeping negative thoughts.
■ KDB CRUNCH
CITY actually played some of their best football of the season when Kevin de Bruyne was out injured in January and February.
Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva all stepped up to the plate to fill the brilliant Belgian’s boots – and it could even be argued that they looked even more fluent
without him. De Bruyne is out again, and City need the same response.
■ TOUGH PICK
PEP Guardiola’s team selection will again be very interesting, for the first of three crunch games in seven days – with the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and Paris St Germain in the Champions League semi-final three days after that.
The temptation is to play marginal players, but that led to a shocking performance against Chelsea at Wembley and the end to their hopes of what would have been a historic Quad.
But the dangers of not rotating were also evident, as Ruben Dias looked extremely tired and De Bruyne succumbed to an injury that possibly owed something to fatigue – both players who had done a full shift three days earlier at Dortmund.