Micah Richards has said that he would sooner come up against Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku than he would Jack Grealish.
The former City defender has been speaking about the pair on the Rest Is Football podcast, with a debate continuing to rage.
Doku signed for City from Rennes in the summer and has had a rather unexpected start at the Etihad Stadium.
He’s come in and largely thrived, and has so far contributed three goals and six assists in 17 appearances.
His end product – which was actually questioned when he first transferred – has seemingly brought Grealish more into focus, as a player who has come in for criticism for not scoring or assisting enough.
Despite the numbers being in favour of Doku, Micah Richards has said he’d still rather play against the Belgian than Grealish…
Micah Richards says he would rather defend against Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku than Jack Grealish
Doku appears to be more in favour with Pep Guardiola just at the moment.
The youngster has now started the last four Premier League games and is definitely making a real impression among the fanbase.
But Grealish got himself a rare goal on Sunday against Tottenham Hotspur and will be looking to build on that.
The Doku-Grealish battle is very interesting, with both players bringing very different styles.
But in the eyes of Richards, Doku is the player he would rather come up against. He said: “I always used to love playing against great wingers. I said I’d rather play against Doku than I would against Grealish. Just because I love that individual battle.
“Grealish goes in areas where I don’t want to go. I don’t want to go and chase Jack Grealish into number 10 positions and centre midfield and then I’m out of position. I like that one-on-one battle and that’s why I would like to play against Doku.”
Both are difficult to defend against
At this point, the debate is tiresome.
Both of these players are extremely difficult to defend against in different ways.
Doku has electric acceleration from a standing start and is more direct than Grealish. Grealish is not the quickest, but is still also very difficult to get a grip of, which is clear from how much he gets fouled.
Free-kicks for this City side are a massive opportunity to score goals considering there are some big players in the team, such as Ruben Dias, Rodri, Erling Haaland and John Stones.
England international Grealish protects the ball so well, and Pep Guardiola clearly rates this quality very highly.
