Raheem Sterling’s two goals put pay to any Tottenham Hotspur challenge at the Etihad Stadium, as Pep Guardiola’s charges overcame the absence of playmaker David Silva with another outstanding attacking display.
Sterling’s brace in a 4-1 victory masked a mixed evening’s work for the winger, who really should have had at least a hat-trick. His six efforts on goal arrived via four big chances, two of which went begging.
But Sterling’s 1.1 million Fantasy Premier League (FPL) owners will still be more than happy with a 12-point return, if not the fact that his prolifigacy cost the winger bonus points.
Sterling has now produced 11 goals, with Fantasy returns in seven of his last ten appearances. Perhaps more crucially, he has been named in Guardiola’s starting line-up in nine of the last ten matches in all competitions, including the previous eight Gameweeks.
Sterling would seem likely to get a rest in the EFL Cup tie with Leicester City in midweek, setting him up for another start against Bournemouth in Gameweek 19.
In his current form – and with captaincy options limited by the fixtures – Sterling now becomes a serious armband candidate.
A goal every 109.8 minutes is an extraordinary record for a midfield option. He is second only to Mohamed Salah over the season for that metric, along with FPL’s points per match statistic over the season (7.0 vs 7.5) before the Egyptian’s run-out at Bournemouth today.
Sterling is currently the most bought FPL player ahead of Gameweek 19, with his price peaking at a season-high 8.4
De Bruyne charges on
While Sterling continues to deliver, Kevin De Bruyne maintained his steep ascent as a Fantasy asset.
The Belgian’s goal output has increased considerably, with Saturday’s strike his fifth in eight Gameweeks. He’s now delivered back-to-back double-digit scores, with five for the season as a whole.
Sealing the three bonus points, De Bruyne is now giving chase to Salah at the top of the FPL midfield standings on 113, with Sterling (112) and Silva (102) making up three of the top four.
Leroy Sane (95) trails that trio of team-mates, but revived his Fantasy stock with a pair of assists on Saturday. That represented his first attacking returns since Gameweek 11, though he is still without a goal since a strike at The Hawthorns back in Gameweek 10.
Along with Sterling, it is De Bruyne who is tempting investment as the second most bought player ahead of Gameweek 19 so far.
There’s no question that sales of David Silva are fuelling those trades.
The Spaniard was the most popular transfer target heading into Saturday’s deadline, finding his way into 278,000 new squads.
But he was absent from City’s teamsheet due to personal reasons, which currently remain unexplained.
There were tributes made to Silva from the City players during and after Saturday’s win, and we can only wait on more information and hope that all is well with him and his loved ones.
City Strikers fade out
The fact that a mention of Man City’s strikers is now almost an afterthought underlines just how their midfield has overpowered both Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Silva as assets.
Saturday did little to change that situation.
A disgruntled Aguero was hooked before the hour mark as his job share with Jesus continued. The Brazilian was introduced, only to miss a penalty kick to deliver a -1 return.
Jesus is without a goal in his last five Gameweek appearances, while Aguero boasts two over the same time frame. However, that is dwarfed by the rates currently being achieved by Sterling and De Bruyne.
Kane escapes for abject Spurs
Harry Kane’s failure to register points at the Etihad was perhaps no surprise.
However, his agricultural challenge on Sterling that could, and should, have earned a straight red card certainly was.
The striker was booked and must now avoid a caution at Burnley in Gameweek 19 to avoid a one-match ban.
Kane lost over 93,000 in ownership ahead of Saturday’s match.
But despite another single point return, sales have currently slowed ahead of the Turf Moor trip. He’s showing a net loss of just over 4,000 at the time of writing.
That reflects a market distracted by movement in midfield and also the fact that there remains no convincing option to replace the Spurs striker.
With Alvaro Morata restricted to an appearance from the bench in Gameweek 18, it will likely take points from Romelu Lukaku or Roberto Firmino to push Kane’s owners to the exit.
Elsewhere for Mauricio Pochettino’s shell-shocked side, Christian Eriksen maintained his recent revival with a consolation goal.
The Dane has now returned two goals and two assists over his last four Gameweeks to keep Son Heung-min at bay as the weapon of choice in the Spurs midfield.
Son did, however, start a fourth successive league outing and has now missed just two of the last 11 Gameweeks.
In defence, Pochettino opted to hand Danny Rose back-to-back league starts for the first time this season, with Ben Davies left on the bench until the 90th minute.
