As the holidays are approaching rapidly and gameweeks are coming thick and fast it leaves us managers pondering how to keep a good and healthy bench while also maximizing the points potential of league leaders Manchester City, using our allotted three spots. Pep Guardiola has a very deep and talented squad so rotation is inevitable, but the potential for double-digit hauls are always looming each and every time the player you have selected is present in the team sheets.
Many of us (53,6% at the time of writing) have Sergio Aguero in our squads, and while he has returned a more than respectable 14 attacking returns in 13 gameweeks, there are some concerns over his away form. In six away games he’s only registered one goal, zero assists, and no bonus points. It is obviously worth noting that he’s faced off against Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham in three of those games. Only one goal against Cardiff, Wolves, and West Ham does however not particularly flatter the mercurial striker.
Whether this is all circumstantial or a part of Peps tactics is debatable but the sample size is starting to grow enough for conclusions to be made, although we probably need three or four more away games against non top-six sides to say so for sure. Personally, I still believe he can shake off this issue and start racking up points away from the Etihad Stadium as well but it is something to consider, especially when Harry Kane is starting to come to life again with nice fixtures for Tottenham in the coming month.
As far as the midfield goes Raheem Sterling looks fantastic and is arguably a better captaincy option than Aguero. In the absence of Benjamin Mendy, Leroy Sané is once again shining on the left-hand side and should be given ample opportunity to do so over the coming weeks. Rotation is to be expected and the more City mids you’ve got, the more important it becomes to have a good bench as cover. As far as Sterling goes he’s so far started eleven out of thirteen gameweeks, racking up seven goals, seven assists, and eleven bonus points. In the games he started on the bench he also did not feature as a substitute, making sure the annoying one point cameo has yet to be an issue. This, of course, cannot be relied upon to always be the case and it will depend on the development of each game, but it does still remain noteworthy. The same cannot be said of Sané with plenty of late substitutions from the bench to his name (four games with less than 15 minutes played and one game playing 28 minutes, as well as not featuring twice this season).
David Silva, Riyad Mahrez,and Bernardo Silva are also midfield options to be considered, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The currently injured Kevin De Bruyne is someone to keep an eye on as well, although Pep probably won’t rush him back to in order to avoid another setback. The current pick of the bunch appears to be David Silva who has seemingly abandoned his traditional penchant for assists and is starting to make up for it by scoring goals, as he’s scored a solitary goal in three consecutive gameweeks.
In defence the popular pick after Mendy’s injury seems to be Aymeric Laporte (15,9% owned) closely followed by Kyle Walker (14,3%). As the fourth and fifth highest scoring defenders so far this season they make a strong case for their inclusion in our squads, depending on formation and willingness to “sacrifice” a Man City attacking spot for a defender who will get plenty of clean sheets, but rarely see any bonus. The security of starts is, however, nothing to be scoffed at as it has allowed Laporte (64 points) and Walker (60 points) to pretty much match the way more expensive Sané (69 points) and David Silva (66 points).
John Stones, and Fabian Delph remains in the somewhat more rotatable category for now, although a case can be made for both of them if the money is tight and you are shopping for a defender. Ederson is still a more than capable set and forget goalkeeper, even if he is prone to the odd howler from pretty much nowhere at times.
So how do we best utilize our three Manchester City spots in the coming weeks?
In the end, it comes down to individual team structure and faith in replacements for any current City player who you may transfer out.
For instance, the options for people who want to get rid of Aguero is most likely Kane or Aubameyang if the plan isn’t to make a downgrade and spread the cash in midfield or defence. People who are looking to (for whatever reason) get rid of Ederson is best served by Alisson or downgrading to a budget/mid-priced keeper.
If we choose to ignore what players you may or may not currently have in your squad I think there is a very strong argument for doubling up with Sterling and Sané over the coming weeks. Sure, there will be rotation but both of these players are more than capable of getting double-digit returns each game they play. For the final spot, it gets a bit more tricky. Arguably having Aguero, Sterling, and Sane may be putting too many eggs (and too much money) in the Manchester City attacking basket, as tempting as that basket may indeed be…
Given the lack of solid goalkeeper options, I think Ederson makes a strong case for inclusion, although I would expect roughly the same returns from Laporte and Stones. There is, however, a larger pool of potential defenders who could do equally well in the coming weeks (for instance, the people doubling up with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson surely aren’t complaining lately). For me, the ultimate combination is Ederson, Sterling and Sané but if you’re looking for treble Manchester City attack, my personal suggestion is David Silva, Sterling, and Sané going into December.
Best of luck to all of you!
Meltens
