Manchester City crashed to a first defeat of the season in the Premier League against Wolves.
Pep Guardiola, watching on from the stands as he served a touchline ban, saw his team suffer a second straight loss after losing to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.
City had plenty of the ball and created several chances.
But there was no real cutting edge at Molineux.
The chances that were created were not particularly good ones. And Wolves defended really well.
One area Wolves got real joy was down City’s left side.
Nathan Ake had an absolutely torrid time against Pedro Neto, and was hooked for Jack Grealish with around 15 minutes to go. He has even said publicly that he wasn’t happy with his own performance.
And one wonders if the Dutchman’s struggles could count against him moving forwards…
Josko Gvardiol could have just gone clear of Nathan Ake in the pecking order after Wolves defeat
Ake has been absolutely superb for City in 2023.
But just recently he hasn’t quite been at it and he did not look at all comfortable on Saturday.
It was interesting that Pep did not turn to Josko Gvardiol at any point during Saturday’s game.
It was clear that Neto was getting the better of Ake.
But he lasted 80 minutes, before Grealish replaced him.
Gvardiol not coming on felt a little strange. But the Croatian’s starting prospects have surely been boosted following the events of Saturday’s game.
The £130,000-a-week star has looked solid as anything so far since he signed.
He is a way better passer than Ake, and there actually doesn’t seem to be a lot in it between the two in terms of defending.
John Stones return may also boost Gvardiol’s starting chances
It sounds as though Stones will be returning very soon for City.
And this is something that could further boost the ‘phenomenal’ Gvardiol’s starting prospects.
There would, in theory, be less of a chance of Gvardiol featuring centrally, because of Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Stones.
So his chances are likely to come at left-back, and Ake – currently struggling a little – is his only competition.
