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Three things Guardiola needs to address during the international break

They are yet again the favourites for the titlethis season, but the competition is getting tougher, especially with Liverpool improving by leaps and bounds.

Pep Guardiola

Kolkata, September 4: Pep Guardiola has done quite an unbelievable job at Manchester City so far. Winning the Premier League back-to-back is itself a herculean task and he has achieved that with points never achieved by any team in history.

They are yet again the favourites for the titlethis season, but the competition is getting tougher, especially with Liverpool improving by leaps and bounds.

The Cityzens go into the first international break of the season sitting second in the table with 10 points, tow behind Liverpool who have maintained a 100% start to their season.

Results | Points Table | Fixtures

Here, we look three things Guardiola need to address during the international break.

1. Laporte's absence

City played a big gamble this summer by letting Vincent Kompany leave the club without signing a replacement and he must regret it now following the injury to Aymeric Laporte which looks really serious and he could be out for a long period. The Spaniard has been the best central defender for the Cityzens since his arrival at the Etihad and without him, Guardiola's team could struggle at the back. Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones are the only other two options and Fernandinho could also be used there, but Guardiola must find the right formula at the back during the break.

2. Analysing Rodri

City had an unusual window this time out as they did not make too many big signings. Joao Cancelo and Rodri have been the only two big signings and the former has played only one minute so far as a substitute, but Rodri has been used regularly so far but he has not been impressive at all. However, it takes time to adapt to a new league and a new country and the Premier League is much different from the La Liga. Guardiola needs to use the international break in order to analyse on what aspects his 'new Busquets' needs to improve to succeed in the Premier League.

3. Plan B

Without Laporte at the back, it will be much tough for City defensively and Guardiola needs to think of a plan B in order to cope with the absence of the former Bilbao star. With Joao Cancelo in the team, the former Barcelona boss could revert to three at the back which he used to use at the Etihad in his early days. Kyle Walker has experience as centre-back and he has been used there by England boss Gareth Southgate. Walker could team up with two among Otamendi, Stones and Fernandinho to form a three-man defence with Joao Cancelo and Zinchenko playing as wing-backs.

Story first published: Wednesday, September 4, 2019, 12:59 [IST]
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