EX-IRELAND INTERNATIONAL David Meyler is The42′s football columnist for this season.
Every Friday, the former Hull City and Sunderland midfielder will give expert insight and his predictions ahead of the weekend’s Premier League action, alongside the latest William Hill prices.
In his latest piece, Meyler looks at how Pep Guardiola turned things around at Premier League leaders Manchester City and discusses how the passing of his mother will have affected Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Manchester City v Tottenham, 5.30pm Saturday
Manchester City are well and truly back to their best.
Leading the Premier League title race by five points with a game in hand, Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth round victory made it 15 consecutive wins in all competitions — a new all-time record for English top-flight clubs.
The emphatic result against defending champions Liverpool last weekend sent out a clear statement and Pep Guardiola’s men will take some stopping this season.
It is certainly a much brighter situation at the Etihad Stadium to the one they found themselves in a few months ago.
City face Tottenham this Saturday evening and when the teams last met back in November, Spurs claimed a 2-0 win to move into top spot while their opponents languished in the bottom half of the table.
It wasn’t the Manchester City we were used to seeing under Guardiola. They were struggling to rediscover their identity and went through a bad patch, but their performances have been much-improved since then.
One issue he has had to address is the defence. Holding midfielder Fernandinho, a great servant to the club but now in his mid-30s, played the majority of last season at centre-half due in part to Aymeric Laporte’s lengthy knee injury.
Reinforcements were made in the shape of €68 million Portuguese international Ruben Dias from Benfica and Dutchman Nathan Ake, who joined from relegated Bournemouth for a reported €45m.
And while Chelsea youth product Ake has only featured six times in the league this term, Dias has been an absolute revelation.
Question marks are always going to be asked when a player arrives from another country for that type of fee, but the 23-year-old has barely put a foot wrong — striking up a really solid partnership with the rejuvenated John Stones.
Guardiola is also getting a tune out of full-backs Joao Cancelo and Oleksander Zinchenko, two players who weren’t previously first choice. Former Juventus man Cancelo, in particular, has been given a unique role and the licence to shift into midfield in order to be creative.
With the team’s talisman Kevin De Bruyne currently sidelined, Ilkay Gundogan has stepped up to the plate in recent weeks.
The German is at the club since 2016 and has always been a talented midfielder who grafts for the team, but his goals are on another level this season. He is currently City’s top scorer in the league with nine.
Against Liverpool last Sunday, Gundogan was popping up in the right position at the right time. There’s a knack to sniffing out those opportunities and taking them when they come along.
Guardiola has had to plan for much of the campaign without Sergio Aguero and chops and changes at times, often leaving out his other recognised number nine Gabriel Jesus, and playing the likes of Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez or Bernardo Silva through the middle. Last weekend, it was Phil Foden in that role.
Foden was excellent and scored an outstanding goal, but Pep wasn’t particularly happy with him after the game. As much as everyone is ranting and raving about the young English forward, his manager still feels he has a lot to learn. That’s the level of demands he puts on his players.
I remember when I first saw him play when England won the U17 World Cup in 2017. He picked up the tournament’s Golden Ball award and did an interview on the BBC. He was even smaller than he is now.
You often see these players who are touted to be the next big thing and sometimes it doesn’t work out. In Foden’s case, he just seems to be getting better and better.
He performed against Liverpool as if he had been playing in the Premier League for the past 10 years. He didn’t look out of place at all and in fact was better than the majority of players on the pitch.
There have been worries about his lack of game time, but he recently reached 100 appearances for City and is still only 20 years of age. There had been talk of a loan move but it just seems that Guardiola is nurturing him along nicely and knows what the plan is for him. Whenever he plays, he tends to produce.
Spurs travel to the Etihad this weekend, and look in far healthier shape now their captain Harry Kane is back fit.
He’s a world-class striker and his impact on the Tottenham team can’t be understated. You only had to watch the difference in their performance in 2-0 win over West Brom, compared to the dire display against Chelsea three days earlier.
There is obviously a gulf in class in relation to the opponents they faced, but at the same time, Kane’s presence brings a sense of belief among his team-mates.
They face a City side in great form, however. We know well about the rivalry between Pep and Jose, which was probably at its fiercest when they managed Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.
As I’ve already mentioned, Mourinho got one over on his former colleague when they last met, but I can’t see anything other than a City win and I’m going to say 3-1.
Leicester City v Liverpool, 12.30pm Saturday
First and foremost, I want to send my condolences to Jurgen Klopp and his family after news emerged this week that his mother Elisabeth has passed away at the age of 81.
It’s tough losing a loved one at any time, but during a pandemic that prevents you from celebrating your mother’s life by attending her funeral must be all the more heartbreaking.
The Liverpool boss has been up tight and short in recent interviews after a couple of bad results, but this puts that into context and might go some way to explaining why he hasn’t been himself lately.
From my own experience, you need your life to be going really well on the field and off the field to do prosper in football. When there’s a problem with one, it can start to affect the other.
I imagine the players won’t have understood what Jurgen was going through but will have heard the news and I think they will put in a performance on Saturday to try to lift him.
It’s third v fourth as the Reds travel to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester City and former manager Brendan Rodgers. I fancy a 2-1 away win.
William Hill odds above correct at the time of writing. New online customers get €30 in free bets when they bet €10 with William Hill. Just use the promo code H30. For all the latest prices, visit williamhill.com. 18+, always gamble responsibly. For more information, see gamblingtherapy.org
