Manchester City are about to get back into Premier League action following another international break.
Pep Guardiola’s side headed into the October international break having won five and drawn two of their first seven league matches of the campaign.
With another international break coming up in November, City have several matches to get through before that arrives.
In addition to league games against Wolves, Southampton and Bournemouth, the Blues will be taking on Sparta Prague in their latest Champions League match and Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup.
Focusing on their aim to win a fifth consecutive Premier League trophy, the City boss has some issues to resolve if he wants to see his players get their hands on even more silverware by the end of the season.
Let’s take a look at those issues and how Guardiola and his coaching staff can deal with them.
Use John Stones in midfield to ease Rodri absence
After seeing him pick up a knee injury in their 2-2 draw against Arsenal, Guardiola said that Rodri will be out injured for the season having damaged his ACL.
One way the City boss could help deal with this particular situation is by deploying John Stones in a midfield role once again.
Having previously played a hybrid midfield role, most notably during the 2023 Champions League final against Inter Milan, this could be the ideal way for City to replace Rodri.
Get Erling Haaland scoring again
Erling Haaland started the campaign on fire by scoring 10 goals in his first five league games of the season.
However, the 24-year-old has failed to find the back of the net in his two previous outings against Newcastle United and Fulham.
Bearing in mind how City have only kept one clean sheet in the league so far this season, they will need his goals to help them secure victories and push them to the title if their defence doesn’t strengthen.
In addition to hoping the striker stays fit, Guardiola may have to use the players around Haaland to find new ways to set up goalscoring opportunities for him.
Keep the competition up between City’s three wingers
With Guardiola rotating Jack Grealish, Savinho and Jeremy Doku throughout the season, having the competition between this trio for a place in the team could be the ideal way to make sure they all give their best on the pitch.
On this point, if the City boss has a constant headache about who to pick in his team, this would show how impressive they all are and hopefully in top form delivering regular goal contributions.
Deal with counterattacks better
As mentioned earlier, the Blues have conceded eight league goals across their seven matches.
While focusing on their defence seems the most general way to combat this, a more specific thing for Guardiola to address is how his side are vulnerable to counter-attacks.
For example, in their recent 3-2 win over Fulham, Adam Traore missed three big chances which came from counterattacks.
In fact, after the game, Mateo Kovacic highlighted how Ederson rescued City with his saves to make sure they ended up winning the match.
Whilst presumably being wary about how he sets up his side to play his way, Guardiola must make his side less susceptible to being caught on the counter.
