Manchester City warmed up for Double Gameweek 25 with a 3-1 win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday night.
City are the only Premier League club in European action this week, with Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League last-16 tie not until next week.
West Ham United, Liverpool, Brighton and Hove Albion and Aston Villa don’t resume their UEFA Europa/Conference League campaigns until March.
With the reigning champions’ Gameweek 25 double-header upon us, we thought we’d scout them one last time before Saturday’s deadline.
And there were some interesting takeaways for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers, as we discuss below.
TEAM SELECTION
Above images from Sofascore, with Man City’s nominal formation v Copenhagen on the left and average positions on the right
Perhaps for the first time this season, we saw Pep Guardiola’s ‘big game’ starting XI in action.
That included Jack Grealish (£7.2m), someone his manager frequently uses for his controlled ‘tempo’ on the left flank in high-profile fixtures.
It was something Guardiola again referenced after full-time.
“In the last few days, his mood in training sessions was much better. He was really good, he helped us to play in the right tempo, especially in the first leg.
“You cannot play so slow but you cannot play so fast. Against teams that are incredibly organised, you have to find the right moment and play the right tempo. Jack helps us a lot.” – Pep Guardiola on Jack Grealish
John Stones (£5.3m) inverted into midfield from centre-half, while Nathan Ake (£5.0m) and Kyle Walker (£5.5m) tucked in as outside centre-backs rather than bombing down the flanks.
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m) was frequently the more advanced of the two ‘eights’, with Phil Foden (£8.0m) once again taking up a right-wing role.
ALVAREZ’S BENCHING
There had to be a loser in this, and it was predictably Julian Alvarez (£6.7m).
The Argentina international was named among the substitutes in Denmark and didn’t even make it onto the field.
This is actually nothing unusual in Europe: he’s been benched in six of City’s seven Champions League fixtures this season.
Meanwhile, he’s maintained an ever-present starter status in the Premier League. De Bruyne’s injury had a lot to do with that, of course.
That status will come to an end soon, very likely in Gameweek 27/28, if not before that.
In reality, Tuesday’s benching didn’t tell us much new.
When De Bruyne, Erling Haaland (£14.4m) and most others are fit, Alvarez will often be the fall guy. This goes especially so for the ‘bigger’ games, like against Manchester United (Gameweek 27) and Liverpool (Gameweek 28), when Guardiola wants a Bernardo Silva (£6.4m) or a Mateo Kovacic (£4.7m) in the middle of the park alongside De Bruyne.
But, and it’s important to stress this before Double Gameweek 25, there will be instances when Alvarez also starts alongside De Bruyne and Haaland. Games against deep blocks and five-man defences when an extra attacking body is needed to penetrate the proverbial parked bus, as we saw in Gameweek 23. The opposition that day? Brentford, who City face in Gameweek 25.
You’d think Alvarez gets at least one start in the double, then, while the injuries below (and/or ongoing minute management for De Bruyne) may make that two.
INJURY UPDATES
City went into this game with zero flagged players in FPL and came out with four.
Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol (£4.8m) missed out altogether, while Bernardo and Grealish came off during the match with injuries.
While Kovacic is due back in training this week and Bernardo seemingly only suffered a “knock”, the situation looks a bit bleaker for Gvardiol and Grealish.
“Bernardo has a big knock in his ankle.
“I didn’t speak with the doctor but it looks like muscular for Jack. Hopefully, he can recover quick. He felt it on the grass and started to complain, something muscular. The players know, they can feel it immediately.
“He wanted to continue but we are not going to do more damage. I didn’t speak with the doctors. We make tests tomorrow but I think a few days will be out, yeah.
“Josko [will be] two weeks or three weeks. He has [a problem with] a ligament in his ankle. Kova is in the process to come back. I think Thursday or Friday, maybe he will train with us and we will see how he feels.” – Pep Guardiola, speaking in his post-match press conference
AKE + DOKU: GOOD NEWS… BUT DON’T COUNT THOSE CHICKENS
If Grealish follows Gvardiol in being ruled out for “weeks”, then it’s seemingly good news for Ake’s and Jeremy Doku‘s (£6.5m) Double Gameweek 25 gametime prospects.
It’s a combination that should work well on paper, too. Gvardiol and Doku together? Maybe not enough control down the left flank. Ake and Grealish? Maybe too much.
But while the ‘expected minutes’ of Ake and Doku got a bump after Tuesday’s clash in Copenhagen, do not be fooled into thinking either player is a 100% nailed starter for both Gameweek 25 fixtures.
There’s a chance Guardiola starts with Foden and Bernardo (if fit) wide against Chelsea, as he did in Gameweek 23 versus Brentford. Doku’s display in the eight-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge in November, in which Chelsea got a lot of joy down their right flank, may also be at the back of the City manager’s mind.
As for Ake, you’d maybe fancy his chances of 180 minutes a bit more.
But his head coach has alternatives. Manuel Akanji (£4.9m) could start as a full-back/centre-half hybrid or inverting left-back, as indeed he did in Gameweek 24.
Guardiola said Akanji “didn’t feel comfortable” in the role but the Swiss stopper has done OK there previously, particularly at the back end of 2022/23.
Rico Lewis (£4.3m) started at left-back in Gameweek 1, meanwhile.
FODEN AND DE BRUYNE DELIVER AGAIN
As for the on-field action in the Danish capital, it was the Foden and De Bruyne show once again.
They registered 12 shots and four key passes between them, each assisting the other.
De Bruyne was again more frequently in the better goalscoring positions playing nearer to Haaland.
The Belgian should have converted an Ake cross before opening the scoring with an angled drive, later stinging the hands of Copenhagen’s keeper with one of his seven shots.
“I feel alright, obviously I think I need still a couple of more games and minutes. I’ve not played 90 minutes… in almost a year so that’s a long time but I’m getting there, I’m feeling good and the levels are good enough for the moment, so I’m happy.” – Kevin De Bruyne
Foden left it late for his goal, drifting diagonally from the flank and finishing off a superb one-two with De Bruyne.
“Me and Kev have built that connection now. When he makes that run, I know the right time to play it.
“I prefer to play in the pockets but today I played wide and did an alright job.
“I just feel alive [in central areas]. I feel like I’m always involved in the game, you can get into the game as well. You can get on the ball, play a few simple passes and build your confidence. You’ve got to wait for the ball to come you at times [out wide].
“I’ve always played in there since a young age in the number 10 role so it’s something I’ve been used to.” – Phil Foden
The Belgium international’s other ‘assist’ didn’t owe much to his vision: a tackle that merely fell into the path of Bernardo.
Ake and Haaland had other huge chances for City, the Norwegian seeing a header deflected onto the bar and spurning two injury-time openings. Most days they go in (Gameweek 24), and some days they don’t (Gameweek 23).
Finally, it would be remiss not to mention that Haaland’s grandmother passed away at the weekend. The sad news didn’t affect his availability in Gameweek 24 or against Copenhagen, so it remains to be seen if the funeral (reportedly next week) has any bearing on his involvement against Brentford.
