Chris Sutton has suggested that Pep Guardiola could leave Jeremy Doku out of the Manchester City team for their upcoming matches.
The Manchester club’s previous Premier League outing saw them beat Bournemouth 6-1 at the Etihad Stadium, during which Doku scored one goal and delivered four assists.
With the Citizens now preparing to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend, one pundit has made an interesting claim regarding the Belgian’s prominence in the team moving forward.
Sutton says Guardiola could bench Doku for Chelsea clash
Written in his latest Premier League predictions column for BBC Sport ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, Sutton had this to say about Doku and his potential inclusion in the starting XI for City’s match against Chelsea.
He said: “Guardiola also has a nice problem in terms of who to pick on the left, Jeremy Doku or Jack Grealish.
“You never know with Pep – because Doku has been playing so well, he will probably leave him out for the next six games.”
City signed the 21-year-old during the previous summer transfer window from Rennes in a deal worth £55m.
Since then, the winger has scored three goals and provided six assists in 13 appearances across all competitions.
However, having started just eight of those 13 games, it’s clear that Doku isn’t always at the top of Guardiola’s pecking order.
Bearing in mind how he didn’t start against Arsenal or Manchester United, both away from home, this could be a sign that the youngster could well find himself on the bench again this weekend at Stamford Bridge.
Despite that, his impressive efforts against Bournemouth and the fact that he didn’t start in midweek against Young Boys could point towards Guardiola giving Doku a chance to shine in a big game away from home.
Overall, while Sutton maybe exaggerating about how Guardiola decides who plays and who doesn’t, we feel that the Spaniard does have a big choice to make regarding whether or not the 21-year-old will be in the starting XI once again this weekend.
