MANCHESTER CITY kicked off their Premier League campaign in style with a 3-0 win over Burnley last Friday.
There will be some who point out that it was “only” Burnley, but this is a side that has changed a lot since their last top-flight campaign.
And they did not allow Man City to have things all their own way.
Yet despite posing a threat in the first half, the Treble winners still ran out comfortable winners.
Now they face a tougher test in the form of Newcastle – who were extremely impressive in their 5-1 win over Aston Villa.
Let’s take a look at some of the key tactical battles ahead of the clash at the Etihad.
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Is Ederson a midfielder now?
Over the course of the summer, a lot has been made of the fact that Manchester United have signed the Cameroon international Andre Onana to improve their ability to play out from the back.
This decision by United, however, is likely to have been driven by the fact that their cross-town rivals Man City already have one of the best sweeper keepers in Ederson.
But in the early stages of their season opener away to Burnley we saw a new role for Ederson as he continually stepped out of his penalty area and looked to play on the same line as his defenders when City built their attacks.
Ederson, 30, has always been a keeper who is exceptionally good with the ball at his feet, but now we are seeing Pep Guardiola trust his No1 to take even more risks.
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The positioning of Ederson when City were building their attacks was designed to try to pull the Burnley press towards the ball and create space behind the press.
When Burnley did step up, we saw that Ederson has the quality to find passes to break the press into the midfield area.
When Burnley stayed deep, however, we saw that City were willing to go longer with passes to find the wide forwards or the centre forward.
Newcastle will present a different challenge to City in this game and, as we saw against Aston Villa, they are exceptionally well organised without the ball.
It is likely they will allow Ederson to step out in this structure with little direct pressure on the City keeper, but they will sit in a more effective defensive block between the ball and their goal.
Ederson is not a typical keeper, though.
In most instances, keepers, even those comfortable with the ball at their feet, will be less effective in terms of build-up and breaking down an opposition block compared to an outfield player.
In Ederson’s case, however, he has the passing range and accuracy to confidently play out from the back and find the free player in more advanced areas.
How will City cope with the loss of De Bruyne?
When Man City won their first Champions League at the end of the 2022/23 season against Inter Milan, they did so without their midfield talisman.
Kevin De Bruyne, 32, was forced from the pitch with an injury in the first half and City were forced to adjust mid-game.
The mercurial Belgian was back for the start of the new season but unfortunately he lasted just 23 minutes before he was forced from the pitch with a problem which now requires surgery.
Without the ball-carrying and passing range of De Bruyne, Guardiola will have to adjust the way his side create space and chances in the final third.
Luckily for Guardiola and Man City, they have a ready-made creative replacement in Phil Foden.
The England international 23, started the match against Burnley on the left – with Julian Alvarez on the right and Erling Haaland through the middle.
As the game developed we saw Foden move around more and more as he occupied central areas, acting as the link to Haaland.
Against Newcastle, it would not be a surprise to see Foden start wide again but with the freedom to move into deeper positions in order to give City the same kind of options they get from De Bruyne.
Foden is equally capable as a ball carrier and he has the ability to create and occupy space in the opposition half.
Given that Newcastle are an extremely organised defensive block, it is likely City will need a player around the final third who can receive the ball in tight areas and move it quickly to force a break through.
Newcastle’s upgraded midfield
Since Newcastle were taken over, fans have waited for them to outspend their competitors.
Instead, we have seen Eddie Howe’s men recruit and act very sensibly in the market as they keep one eye fixed firmly on financial fair play.
There have been exceptions to this rule – one of which was the signing of Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon for £43million.
This summer, Newcastle have moved to further strengthen their midfield unit with the signing of the Italy international Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
And in their opening match, their midfield was exceptionally impressive with Guimaraes and Tonali being joined by the more attacking Joelinton.
Tonali and Guimaraes are both tactically intelligent players who are equally as impressive in the attacking and defensive areas of the game.
While they have the work rate to shift across and close space that the opposition can break into, they also have the range of passing and vision to effectively launch counter-attacks.
Against Man City, Newcastle’s midfield will be key in terms of preventing the champions’ rotations from being effective as they look to create passing angles.
Crucially, though, when Newcastle win possession in higher positions, they have to have the quality to take advantage of the space that City will leave in transition.
While City are notoriously strong through the centre of the pitch, the technical quality – and the fact that Newcastle have such combative players in midfield – will disrupt the City possession.
What does this mean?
We have to be clear. This Man City team are extremely difficult to play against – they have quality throughout the team.
We have seen Guardiola add a tactical detail to the way they will play in the form of Ederson’s positioning.
And, of course, they also have one of the most dangerous forwards in world football in Erling Haaland.
So, can Newcastle still take something from this game?
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They absolutely can but their focus needs to be on their midfield and preventing City from being able to comfortably keep the ball in central areas of the pitch.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
