Manchester City: De Bruyne injury could prove crucial in title race

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 26: Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City during Manchester City Open Training Session at Manchester City Football Academy on August 26, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Manchester City FC/Man City via Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 26: Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City during Manchester City Open Training Session at Manchester City Football Academy on August 26, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Manchester City FC/Man City via Getty Images)

In perhaps the most significant Premier League result of the weekend, Manchester City drew 1-1 with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Saturday lunchtime game.

This will probably be considered a good point for Wolves although they were leading and might have hoped for all three. As for the defending champions Manchester City, this result will be seen as two dropped even though they came from behind.

Although they will not have taken it for granted, City would have been confident of winning this match coming into the game.

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They have shown over and over again last season that they can overcome teams who will inevitably be defending for long periods against them and would have anticipated a similar effort against Wolves.

It is the sort of game that City will have expected to be like so many last season. Pep Guardiola’s side enjoying lots of possession in their opponents third of the pitch and working the ball until they could create the angle or opening needed to score.

However City struggled for long periods to really break down the Wolves defence after the Midlands club took a controversial lead.

Several key performers from last season such as Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane are not performing to the same level. And this match just might have underlined how important Kevin De Bruyne is to the team.

The Belgian forward is out for up to three months at least and this injury could prove critical in deciding the outcome of Manchester City’s season and the title race this season. With Liverpool winning again and going top, the early season indications are that they will prove to be City’s biggest threat.

De Bruyne was arguably the player of the season last term. He led the league in assists and produced some truly world-class performances as City strolled to the Premier League title.

In one example during the Stoke City match at the Etihad last season, he produced for me, the pass of the season leading to a City goal. De Bruyne also had an outstanding shooting accuracy of 41% last term, scoring some important goals.

With the talents of players like David Silva, it seemed that Manchester City would be able to adequately cope without the Belgian talisman.

This weekend’s match perhaps indicated the extent though to which his absence will be missed. City huffed and puffed trying to blow down the door of the Wolves defence but without success until they finally found a way through via a very un-City-like set-piece goal.

De Bruyne’s creativity and intuitive ability to see and find the key defence-splitting ball was missed.

Wolves should be given credit for their defensive resilience however City last season broke down teams of a similar disposition regularly. Often though it was De Bruyne’s ability that proved the difference.

City’s attacking football is now a bit more predictable and that could open up opportunities for teams to more effectively stifle City’s play. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as the season progresses.