The latest on De Bruyne injury and how Sterling blanked against Spurs

Manchester City and Tottenham were unable to live up to their Champions League goal fest on Saturday afternoon.

With both sides mentally drained from Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg, it made for something of a laboured game at the Etihad Stadium.

Possibly for that reason, a number of Double Gameweek options blanked in the first of their two fixtures.

We examine how that happened to Raheem Sterling (£11.5m) in particular, as well as discuss the latest on the injury front.

Manchester City 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Goals: Phil Foden (£4.5m)

Assists: Sergio Aguero (£11.8m)

Manchester City could be without Kevin de Bruyne (£9.7m) for their crucial derby trip to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening. Captained by roughly 40,000 managers for Double Gameweek 35, disaster struck when he pulled up with a muscular injury in the 38th minute. After receiving some treatment, he had to be replaced by Fernandinho (£5.3m), condemning him to just one point for the game.

It is entirely possible that de Bruyne’s Gameweek score will stand at just the solitary point following his injury. After the match, Pep Guardiola cited his involvement in the busy schedule as a reason for the problem and admitted that he could not give a proper update at this stage. The fact that he is already suggesting that de Bruyne could miss the FA Cup final does not bode well.

“I don’t know. If he went out it was because of something muscular but that’s normal after injuries. And after these last three or four games because he has played a lot of minutes without preparation because when they come back from injuries they don’t train properly, to be ready to take a game every three days. That’s why it unfortunately happened. It is a pity because now we are arriving at the best moment of the season and we are going to miss this four days and maybe the FA Cup but we will see tomorrow.” – Pep Guardiola

“Maybe. Maybe Kevin (De Bruyne) will not be there, we will see. I didn’t spend one second thinking about Old Trafford.” – Pep Guardiola

While the news is a huge blow for de Bruyne owners, it could have an impact on the rest of the team as a whole going forward. The Belgian has brought world-class levels of creativity to Manchester City in recent outings, and in the four Premier League matches prior to this one, he had created 18 chances, the second most in the league during that spell.

However, just like earlier this season, it could open the door for Bernardo Silva (£7.6m) to provide decent value for money in the closing stages of the season. He was comfortably the best player on the pitch for Manchester City on Saturday afternoon showing tremendous quality in virtually all areas of the pitch. Against Spurs, the Portuguese international was joint-top among all players for shots, top in his own right for chances created and penalty box touches and even had the highest Clearances, Blocks and Interceptions (CBI) of any of his colleagues too, the second highest in the match.

Silva was close to getting himself an assist for Manchester City’s opening goal, and his owners will probably be cursing Sergio Aguero (£11.8m) at this point. The midfielder played an exquisite ball into the box in the opening minutes and all the Argentinian needed to do was nod the cross home, but he opted instead to head it across goal to Phil Foden (£4.5m), who found the back of the net. While that was frustrating for Silva owners, it was a passage of play that demonstrated his assist potential for the remaining games of the season.

“Kun did great to head it back to me and luckily I was there on the line to tap it in. I just try to take it when the opportunity comes, to help the lads and get the win. I try to get into the box as much as I can because that’s where you score goals. Being an attacking midfielder, I’m always trying to be in the box and today it paid off.” – Phil Foden

The aforementioned Aguero continued to largely disappoint his owners. He had just two shots in the box in the match, which was largely in line with his average over his last six appearances. Since Gameweek 28, he has found the net just once, although has three assists to his name. Whether that is enough to justify his cost going into the closing stages of the season is another question. With Gabriel Jesus (£9.9m) clearly some way down the pecking order, Guardiola continues to manage Aguero’s minutes, replacing him with Leroy Sané (£9.3m) in the 65th minute.

A scoreless game for Sterling was probably the biggest disappointment of the afternoon, as he was captained by more managers in the top 10,000 than any other player. It is possible that this particular blank, the fourth in Sterling’s last six Premier League appearances, was influenced by his involvement in that exhausting Champions League clash just a few days before. In the last eight Gameweeks, the England international averaged 3.5 shots per appearance, 2.67 in the box and 1.67 on target. However, against Spurs on Saturday, he mustered just one effort on goal, that was well saved by the goalkeeper. Energy levels could have had something to do with that drop-off, although Sterling was able to spend the last 25 minutes playing as a centre-forward, considering Aguero was replaced by left-winger Sané.

It was clear from the selection put out by Mauricio Pochettino, that Spurs had been heavily stretched by their involvement in Wednesday’s Champions League action. Both Hugo Lloris (£5.4m) and Kieran Trippier (£6.0m) were absent from the matchday squad, the former missing out with a minor injury, the latter simply rested and expected to start against Brighton midweek.

“He has suffered a small muscle problem. Hopefully, it’s not a big issue and he can be ready for Tuesday. It would be a risk for him to play today and that’s why we decided to leave him in London.” – Mauricio Pochettino

Replacing the Frenchman in goal was Paulo Gazzaniga (£4.5m), who had not played for Spurs in the Premier League since September. He initially looked uncomfortable dropping several easy saves and giving away corners cheaply. However, as the game wore on, the Argentinian grew more confident, providing an excellent stop to deny Sterling in the second half.

Pochettino’s defence was lined up a little differently from usual too. Toby Alderweireld (£6.0m), Jan Vertonghen (£5.9m) and Davinson Sánchez (£5.8m) were a familiar-looking back-three, but centre-back Juan Foyth (£5.0m) was stationed at right wing-back and given the task of marking the in-form Sterling. Like Gazzaniga, he looked a little exposed at first, but largely kept the Manchester City winger quiet.

With numbers short in central midfield, Eric Dier (£4.7m) came back in to start after very little time back in training. He was stationed in a trio in the middle next to Dele Alli (£8.8m) and Christian Eriksen (£9.3m), with only the Danish international lasting the 90 minutes. Not surprisingly, he was Spurs’ top creator in the match, but his extensive involvement in the last few matches, against Manchester City twice and in last weekend’s Huddersfield win, does put him at jeopardy of being rotated for the visit of Brighton.

The same might be the case for Son Heung-min (£8.8m) as he played the full 90 against Manchester City. However, the South Korean does have the advantage of playing just four minutes against Huddersfield in Double Gameweek 34. That benching could have been considered his rest for the upcoming matches and he certainly made a case for inclusion against Brighton. No player at the Etihad Stadium registered more shots in the box or shots on target than Son, and he was usual energetic self with his runs at Manchester City’s defence.

There is still competition for that centre-forward position though. Lucas Moura (£6.8m) was the one Son was paired with in a front two on Saturday, and could conceivably hold onto his berth, having got a rest for the last 15 minutes midweek. Crucially, Fernando Llorente (£5.1m) has emerged as a substitute in both of Spurs’ matches against Manchester City this week, which would see him fresh enough to feature against Brighton if needed.

Manchester City XI (4-3-3): Ederson; Zinchenko, Laporte, Stones, Walker; Foden (D Silva 85′), Gündogan, De Bruyne (Fernandinho 38′); Sterling, Aguero (Sané 66′), B Silva.

Tottenham Hotspur XI (5-3-2): Gazzaniga; Davies, Vertonghen, Alderweireld (Llorente 78′), D Sánchez, Foyth; Alli (Rose 69′), Dier (Wanyama 61′), Eriksen; Moura, Son.