Over to you, Jack
After missing three golden chances in the first half of Manchester City's win at Leeds three days ago, Jack Grealish responded with two unselfish assists for Erling Haaland - his first of the season. Pep Guardiola said after the game that Grealish must now change his mindset in front of goal to have more confidence to take chances himself, and repeated that in his pre-Everton press conference.
After stressing Grealish's work in keeping possession and defensively, Guardiola said: "I had the feeling when we played Aston Villa he always had the commitment to do it. I like these type of players. 'Just because I am the captain of Aston Villa and the No. 10 I am not going to do what the others have to do'. He still does what the others do. He’s a huge competitor, it just has to break a little bit the fact 'I’m going to win games for myself, I’m going to make this step'. Sometimes it’s a question of time."
Rodri added in the week that the rest of the City squad 'demand' more goals and assists from Grealish, and if selected vs Everton on Saturday the number ten can answer his manager and teammates by showing the confidence they've asked for in front of goal. Grealish will surely be buoyed by his brace of assists, and would love to silence critics of his Leeds misses at the first opportunity.
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Guardiola may have to be unfair to Lewis
Pep Guardiola said it would be unfair not to keep Rico Lewis in the starting XI after his performance against Liverpool, adding it would be 'impossible' to play better than him. Lewis, 18, repaid that faith with another impressive outing at Leeds, and if Guardiola sticks to his stance then Lewis would deserve to keep his place against Everton.
However, this would be a logical time to be a little unfair and return Lewis to the bench, after two exhausting appearances in a week. Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker have had two games on the bench and will need to get up to speed ahead of the January schedule. Those two factors mean dropping Lewis would be justified, even if it goes against Guardiola's selection policy for the Leeds game. Still, if Lewis does have a place in City's squad in the coming years, he will have to learn that Guardiola's rotation isn't always fair.
Setting up 2023 in style
As mentioned, City's January schedule will present formidable tests on a twice-weekly basis, and City have given themselves little room for error as they sit five points behind Arsenal. That means games like Everton at home, with the opposition struggling at the wrong end of the table are must-wins. Arsenal have tricky games with Brighton and Newcastle coming up, so City must be a position to capitalise if the Gunners slip up.
Given all of Guardiola's concerns of what the post-World Cup season could look like, they will see second place at the New Year as acceptable - but now the onus is on them to put a run together and keep Arsenal looking over their shoulder. A repeat of their last home league game against Brentford isn't worth thinking about ahead of a very busy January.
Can Haaland respond?
Erling Haaland took his tally to 26 goals in just 20 outings at Leeds with a second-half brace, but Guardiola said after the game that he can still improve. That was a challenge repeated on Friday, when Guardiola said Haaland can offer more than his goal contributions. In fairness, the striker said himself at Elland Road that he could have done better.
On the one hand, having a striker score twice in a game where he's barely involved is hardly a bad problem to have. On the other, Guardiola likes to see his players respond when he challenges them with an improvement, and star striker Haaland will be no different, so all eyes will be on his contribution away from the goal against Everton.
Foden out in the cold
Phil Foden has started just one in City's last five Premier League games, and wasn't included in the line-ups to face Chelsea or Liverpool in the Carabao Cup. All of a sudden, Foden appears to be out of favour, and with Riyad Mahrez playing his way back into form, the 22-year-old suddenly has a fight on for his place on the wing. Julian Alvarez will return soon, adding to the competition in wide areas, so Foden has to take any opportunity he gets at present.
Given the quick turnaround from the Leeds game, and the busy fixtures coming up, Foden may get rotated back into the side against Everton and if he does, the pressure will be on for him to show Guardiola was wrong to leave him out recently. Foden broke into the England side at the World Cup to prove his manager wrong, and could do with a similar impact when he's selected again for City.
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