In our view, Pep Guardiola should drop a certain Manchester City player against Wolves.
Guardiola will have big decisions to make ahead of his side’s upcoming clash on Saturday.
Additionally, the £378,846-a-week man will be hoping to avoid a repeat of City’s 2-1 defeat against Wolves earlier this season by picking the best possible team.
A few weeks ago, one would perhaps scratch their head and question whether even Arsenal and Liverpool would drop points in their respective title run-ins.
However, football never ceases to surprise.
Now that Manchester City are in control of their own destiny in the title race, dropped points against Wolves would be viewed as a collapse by the wider public.
Manchester City must beat Wolves at all costs
Harshly so, perhaps, as in case City especially lose, the result would end their 31-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
But then again, the margins are tight at the top when teams are going for the title and a team of the Sky Blues’ standard should be expected to power through most of their games until the end of the season.
As Andy Morrison stated, it is facing Tottenham away from home that is “undoubtedly” his former club’s biggest challenge.
With the gulf in class between Guardiola and O’Neil’s sides, only one outcome should be expected.
But for that to be the case, the Catalan will have to make the correct decisions.
Walker should be dropped for City against Wolves
Starting with how he selects his back four.
In our view, Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker should be dropped against Wolves.
Perhaps the main reason why that is the case is because at this point, one questions what Walker brings to this City side.
When the Englishman was underperforming for much of the campaign, one could argue that he tends to be a top winger’s kryptonite and that alone makes it worth being patient with him.
While that would be a fair claim, in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, Walker did make a blunder.
Sure, the £50 million man managed to keep Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes quiet one-against-one but that did not make his performance a flawless one defensively.
However, for Real Madrid’s opener, if Walker was not ball-watching, he perhaps would have stayed tighter to Rodrygo, who was given the license to fire at goal twice; one of which led to his team’s first strike.
Against Nottingham Forest as well, Walker was City’s weak link in defence.
However, this has been the case against several teams this season, with the likes of Anthony Gordon, Raheem Sterling and Callum Hudson-Odoi showcasing that perhaps the decorated right-back might not be as potent as keeping wingers quiet as well.
If Wolves winger Pedro Neto is deemed fit to start and is played on the left wing, he could also give Kyle Walker the runaround yet again in a Manchester City shirt.
The Portuguese international is also one of the quickest players in the Premier League and more importantly, he has the lethal combination of pace and trickery to even trouble a defender of Walker’s stature.
Moreover, Neto is proficient at running in behind defences, which could be a nightmare for Walker, especially if he is either caught up the pitch, as has often been the case this season.
Or used in an inverted role, like against Forest if Pedro Neto stays further forward, using his abilities as an outlet to cause damage.
Manuel Akanji would provide much more of a useful skillset to Manchester City in comparison to Kyle Walker against Wolves.
Akanji has showcased time and again, even this season that in one-v-one situations, while he isn’t of Walker’s ilk when he was in his prime, he is tough to get past.
Moreover, in possession, the Swiss international offers a lot more than what Kyle Walker is expected to against Wolves or in any of the subsequent games Manchester City play this season.
Akanji is superior in an inverted role to Walker while as a wing-back, much like the latter, his final ball may not be the best but he would be better at retaining possession.
As a traditional right-back, Manuel Akanji drives forward with the ball with much more regularity than Kyle Walker as well and against a high-press, he can help City escape pressure far more easily.
There seem to be more cons than perks when playing Kyle Walker at this point and it is high-time he is dropped by Pep Guardiola against Wolves, in our view.