Manchester City’s title chances hinge on key cog in Pep Guardiola’s midfield

Manchester City are once again challenging on all fronts, with Pep Guardiola’s side still in the hunt for back-to-back Champions League trophies, as well as domestically in the Premier League, as they search for another league title under the Spaniard’s management. City are a well-oiled machine at this sort of time in the season, as they don’t often drop many points heading towards the later stages of a Premier League campaign. 

However, some might argue that the likes of Liverpool have it tougher than Guardiola’s side, especially when they have a seemingly never ending injury list to deal with at crucial periods of the 2023/24 season. We’ve already seen the likes of Erling Haaland miss the festive period through injury though, and Manchester City fans would have fair reasoning in saying that they too have had their fair share of injuries to try and cope with. 

One player that City supporters will be desperate to keep injury-free from now until the end of this season is Rodri, with the midfielder continuing to impress for them across all the competitions they’re still competing in. The 27-year-old has made 24 appearances in the Premier League this season, and he’s yet to taste defeat this season for the Premier League champions. In fact, you might be surprised to hear that in a game where Rodri has played, Manchester City haven’t been beaten in 59 Premier League matches, which is a quite remarkable run. 

Key man

It goes to show that the midfielder is a key cog in Manchester City’s team, and he’ll continue to do so for years to come. City have of course lost matches over the last few years, but it’s no coincidence that Rodri hasn’t featured in those defeats, as he’s a player that is one of the most crucial to Guardiola’s possession-based system. It’s been revealed by MyBettingSites that Rodri has attempted 2542 passes so far in the 2023/24 Premier League season, which is over 100 more than second-placed Lewis Dunk, who is also known for having his fair share of the ball for Brighton & Hove Albion. 

Rodri’s composure on the ball certainly helps Manchester City in attack, but he also breaks up the play expertly well when they’re not in possession. The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis, and John Stones can’t always balance those two, and so it’s a credit to the ability that Rodri has in his locker. The midfielder has established himself as one of the best in the business when it comes to having the ‘full package’, and City would struggle to maintain the consistency they have if he wasn’t involved in their team on a regular basis. 

We saw Rodri’s ability on and off the ball in Manchester City’s recent 3-1 win over Manchester United in front of the Sky Sports cameras, as the Spaniard won the ball in Manchester United’s own half, before threading Erling Haaland clean through on goal, and the Premier League’s top goalscorer wasn’t ever going to miss with the ball being so well-weighted from Rodri. With 11 matches remaining in this year’s Premier League campaign, it’ll be interesting to see how Liverpool can cope at the top of the table, especially when Manchester City are hitting their stride at the ideal time of the season, and this weekend’s top of the table clash between both teams at Anfield could go a long way in deciding which direction the Premier League title heads in this term.