Manchester City have been very unlucky with injuries this season.
The most severe blow they’ve been dealt saw Rodri suffer a season-ending injury when he damaged his knee in his first Premier League start of the campaign in City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
Since then, numerous other figures from Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad have missed several games across all competitions through injury and fitness problems.
Following Tuesday night’s 4-1 defeat in the Champions League against Sporting CP, a pundit and former City player has pinpointed another problem that the Blues have aside from the absence of the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner – Rodri.
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Micah Richards highlights another big miss Man City have other than Rodri
In a recent edition of The Rest Is Football, after seeing City lose their third consecutive game for the first time since 2018, Micah Richards highlighted another problem the Blues have had in addition to Rodri’s absence.
He said: “With Man City, I don’t want to say there are problems, but they’re missing Rodri for one. Rodri is key. And that’s the obvious thing to say. But they’re missing a creative spark.
“So, when [Kevin] De Bruyne is on the pitch and yes, we talk about his goals and his assists, but we talk about him controlling the game in that area, making those amazing passes under pressure.
“It’s almost like Man City at the moment, that they’re going forward, they’re not finishing off the chances.
“Teams are being more brave against them, they’re pressing them. They’re going through the middle of the pitch too easy and exposing the defence.”
De Bruyne made his return against Sporting
Having suffered a muscle injury during City’s 0-0 draw against Inter Milan back in September, the midfielder made his return in the second half of the defeat in Portugal.
Specifically, the Belgian replaced Mateo Kovacic in the 82nd minute of the match and ended up having 17 touches of the ball in total.
After the match, De Bruyne had an “exchange of opinions” with City’s coaching staff, which suggests that he was not pleased with something on the night, presumably in addition to the disappointing result.
With City taking on Brighton & Hove Albion later today for their final Premier League match before the November international break, it’ll be interesting to see if Guardiola puts De Bruyne in the starting XI for the first time since the Inter stalemate and if he can help give City’s midfield more control.
