Manchester City without Kelvin De Bruyne and Rodri is an overhyped team. The absence of both players have had a negative impact on the team’s performance in the last three games including defeat to Arsenal this weekend which is the most recent lose they have conceded. Gabriel Martinelli’s goal was enough to give Arsenal a win. Arsenal will treasure this win, the team have worked hard to come this far, good work to Mikel Arteta, trusting the process is finally paying off.
You could say, both of them are pillars of Man City, they are key players in Man City apart from Haaland. Man City has been weakened since De Bruyne was injured, and he was injured for a long time, even though we could say, he is the brain of Man City. And not only that, while De Bruyne hasn't recovered, they also have to play without their mainstay defensive midfielder, Rodri. This is a quite significant problem for Man City. Yes, even though they have a very strong Haaland up front, with the absence of these two key players, they still cannot be optimal. This is a challenge for Man City, especially since they have lost in a row, and the peak was in the match against their toughest rival club, Arsenal, they also had to submit even with just 1 goal. Pep Guardiola must think more carefully about anticipating this in the future without these two players, not only in the EPL but also in the UCL.