When Manchester City returns to Premier League action, they will have a lot to do, but they have a plan.
When Manchester City lost 2-1 at home to Brentford last month, some questioned their ability to catch current Premier League leaders Arsenal, especially given a set of unusual circumstances.
Ordinarily, City would pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and string together a string of wins to reclaim their place at the top of the pile. That was not possible this season due to the World Cup.
The Brentford defeat, which allowed Arsenal to establish a five-point buffer at the top of the table, was City’s final league outing before a six-week break. Immediately after that game, 16 members of Pep Guardiola’s squad jetted off to Qatar to play in the World Cup; 11 of them are still there.
With such a long pause preventing any immediate bounce-back and the very real possibility of players returning from the tournament either tired, injured, or both, City’s task of yanking Arsenal’s leash is more daunting than it might have been.
The Blues have therefore formulated a plan that should hopefully see them hit the ground running when they return to Premier League action. At the least, it will give them the very best chance of doing so.
This week Guardiola and his staff took a 19-man squad to Abu Dhabi for a week of warm-weather training. While the group is largely made up of Elite Development squad players due to the involvement of most of the first team at the World Cup, the likes of Erling Haaland, Riyad Mahrez, Cole Palmer, and Sergio Gomez have got the chance to get up to speed after enjoying a rare three weeks off.
Following their return from the United Arab Emirates, City will take on Girona in a friendly match on Saturday 17th December. The Blues will welcome the Spanish side to the Academy Stadium although it is unclear which, if any, of City’s World Cup attendees will take part.
Regardless, whoever features can expect a competitive but low-intensity run out against a fellow member of City Football Group, the perfect way to return to action after over a month off.
Five days later City will return to competitive action with a mouthwatering Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
Though facing Jurgen Klopp’s side lukewarm after a lengthy break is never ideal – see August’s Community Shield – the fact that the meeting comes in the least important of the four competitions City is fighting means the players can use the challenge to ready themselves for their Premier League fixture against Leeds on 28th December.
Not part of the plan, but still a very welcome addition to it, is the unexpected early return from the World Cup of some key players. Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan didn’t make it past the group stages, while the tournament came to an end in the last 16 for Rodri, Aymeric Laporte, and Manuel Akanji.
While there are still 11 City players representing their national teams in Qatar, extra rest for five key squad members can only be a good thing for City’s title bid.
The World Cup break is unprecedented, but thanks to planning and a touch of good fortune, City are now in a strong position to negate any ill-effects and redouble their efforts to catch Arsenal and retain their Premier League crown.
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