Pep Guardiola must include Jeremy Doku in his starting XI for Manchester City’s upcoming Premier League match against Bournemouth.
The Citizens head into this game at the Etihad Stadium off the back of their 3-0 victory over Manchester United last weekend.
In terms of what Guardiola’s starting XI could look like on this occasion, one figure that we feel should be in it is Doku.
Doku must start against Bournemouth
After starting in City’s 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion and their 3-1 win over Young Boys in the Champions League, the winger found himself on the substitute’s bench for the recent victory at Old Trafford.
Looking back to the win against Brighton, Doku made an instant impact and was able to deliver the assist for City’s opening goal of the game with just seven minutes on the clock.
The Belgian, who Kevin De Bruyne described as a “diamond” previously, then went on to earn himself a solid match rating of 8.3/10 from SofaScore on the day, showcasing how much of an effective and impressive player he is.
Across his seven league appearances, the 21-year-old has made more progressive carries (51), carries into the penalty area (29) and successful take-ons (22) than any other City player.
This could make him a real threat to Bournemouth as they have shown this season how vulnerable they can be in terms of seeing players make progressive carries and successful take-ons against them.
Specifically, only five clubs in the league have had more progressive carries (205) and successful take-ons (101) used against them than the south coast side.
His overall performances in the Premier League have earned him a strong season rating of 7.34/10 from WhoScored, making him the third-highest rated player at City behind Erling Haaland (7.62/10) and Rodri (7.59/10).
Taking all of that into account, we feel that Doku could be a vital figure for the home side against Bournemouth and that this game would give him another opportunity to show why the club chose to bring him to the Etihad Stadium in the first place.
