Premier League 2018-19, Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United: 5 talking points

#4 City miss the incisive passing of Kevin De Bruyne

Despite having plenty of possession and shots, City clearly missed the incisiveness of Kevin de Bruyne today

Last season saw City basically walk their way to the Premier League title, gaining a record number of points in the process. Many fans expected the same again this season despite rivals like Liverpool strengthening somewhat, but that theory appears to be looking a little hard to justify after City’s last two league games.

Pep Guardiola’s side dropped two points last week in a draw with promoted Wolves, and it took Walker’s thunderbolt to allow them to claim all three points today. Not that this was a bad performance – it’s always hard to break such a defensive side down – but despite having the lion’s share of possession and 24 shots, City didn’t really carve out any gilt-edged chances.

The most likely explanation is that they’re missing Belgian pass master Kevin de Bruyne, who was ruled out of action for around three months with a knee injury in mid-August. Sure, they’ve still got world-class playmakers like the two Silvas – David and Bernardo – but even they can’t pick a pass quite as well as KDB, who made 16 assists in the league in 2017/18.

Guardiola has a deep enough squad at City that should probably allow them to get past most Premier League sides without the Belgian, but with big matches against Liverpool and Tottenham coming up in October, the lack of KDB could be the difference that allows one of those rivals to steal the jump on the champions – particularly if they drop any more points against lower, defensive opponents.