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Unstoppable? How teams can go about beating Manchester City this season
“Nobody is unbeatable in football and in sport,” said Mauricio Pellegrino when asked about his side’s chances of beating Manchester City on Wednesday. One could be forgiven for thinking his words rang a bit hollow, considering that Southampton travel to the Etihad to face a team who are unbeaten all season and eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
City have scored a whopping 42 league goals this term, conceding only eight in turn – moulded in the image of Pep Guardiola, they have looked accomplished all across the pitch.
Whether or not Southampton can get a result on the road in Manchester, there have been many teams heralded as invincible before only to fall at some unforeseen hurdle. So what would a side have to do to give themselves the best possible chance of beating City right now?
Target Weak Links
City may look almost unbeatable at full strength but no team is immune to injuries. Having lost Benjamin Mendy earlier in the season Guardiola has been forced to draft in Fabian Delph at left-back, where to his credit the former Aston Villa man has performed fairly well so far.
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Delph is far more used to a midfield berth at this point in his career, however, and teams may well decide to target him specifically if he continues to deputise at full-back. When City are weakened through circumstances out of their control, other teams will have to leap on them ruthlessly.
Get Physical
It might be a cynical approach, but it’s hardly unknown in the Premier League. Speaking about how Huddersfield successfully disrupted City’s game at the weekend, Terriers boss David Wagner said: “[We tried] to create a more physical football match rather than a technical football match. If you make it comfortable for an opponent like Manchester City so that they can enjoy their football, then you are chanceless.”
It wouldn’t be a surprise in the coming months to see more sides getting physical with City. It’s not something to be encouraged necessarily, but it’s a timeworn tactic against the most skilful teams.
Exploit Ill-Discipline
Though Huddersfield saw Rajiv van La Parra sent off for a shove to the face of Leroy Sane, both players could have seen red had the referee been feeling bullish. Sane was guilty of sparking the confrontation and, while Van La Parra raised his hands in a manner which was bound to see him reprimanded, it was a moment of hot-headedness from the former Schalke winger.
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It’s not the only time that City have shown flashes of ill-discipline this campaign, with the league leaders currently fourth-bottom of the fair play table. They have racked up 24 yellow cards and two reds already, with Fernandinho, Nicolas Otamendi and Sane some of their worst offenders in terms of cautions. While this could be seen as overenthusiasm, it could also be exploited and turned into a weakness. Were more of those yellows to become reds, City might have a problem.
Close Down Space
More than anything else, Manchester City have been fantastic in their use of space this season. Using a combination of overlapping full-backs in attack, midfield pass masters like David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, intelligent runners like Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling and wolfish finishers in the form of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, they have covered ground and torn great swathes in the pitch like no other team in the Premier League.
What Huddersfield did so well on Sunday was to close down the space in which City thrive, both by packing men behind the ball and maintaining concentration and reaction time for sustained periods. To have any chance of beating the champions elect, better teams will have to find their own ways to organise and deny City’s attacking maestros the space they need.
