Paul Merson has said one Manchester City player looked completely ‘lost’ in the defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Manchester City now have a mountain to climb if they are to win a fifth straight Premier League title, having lost 2-0 at Anfield to go 11 points behind the Reds in the table.
City are now fifth in the table and all of a sudden, the question for City is whether the club have enough to finish in the top four.
Pep Guardiola has been unlucky with injuries this season, and the loss of Rodri has been hugely significant.
But fans have been shocked to see just how badly the team has played in the Spaniard’s absence, and it hasn’t just been about the defence and the midfield, with several attacking players not chipping in with goals.
Gary Neville believes it would be ‘beyond ridiculous’ if Man City won the league from here, and many fans would reluctantly be inclined to agree.
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Guardiola’s starting XI was very strange against Liverpool, and Paul Merson has homed in on one particular selection.
Paul Merson claims Matheus Nunes ‘looked lost’ against Liverpool
Matheus Nunes of Manchester City controls the ball whilst under pressure from Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool during the Premier League match b...
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Paul Merson, like many fans, was stunned watching Sunday’s game.
He was struck by how easy it was for Liverpool, and how devoid of confidence City looked.
It really did make for uncomfortable viewing. This team has dominated for so long, but some of the players are starting to look like shadows of their former selves.
Guardiola is desperate to turn things around, and that came across with the starting XI he picked. He went with Matheus Nunes on the left, and Rico Lewis on the right.
Nunes has actually shown some quality this season from wide areas. But against Liverpool, it just didn’t work with him playing on the left and Merson has slammed the decision to put him there.
He told Sportskeeda: “Someone tell me why Matheus Nunes played out wide against Liverpool?
Trent Alexander-Arnold is one of the best passers of the ball, but he’s not particularly strong one-on-one.
“When Jeremy Doku came on, Liverpool decided to take Alexander-Arnold off and that explains it. Nunes didn’t even touch the ball and he looked lost on the pitch instead of taking the Liverpool
full-back on.”
Nunes’ selection was understandable, but he didn’t deliver
Merson is very critical of the decision to play Nunes on the left against Liverpool.
Certainly, there was scope for Nunes to play in midfield against Liverpool, given the lack of legs and energy in there at the moment.
But you could also see Guardiola’s thinking. As Merson says, Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t too strong in one-vs-one situations and never has been.
Matheus Nunes vs Liverpool
Minutes played – 57
Goals/assists – 0/0
Touches – 32
Passes/completed – 21/18 (86%)
Duels/won – 8/1 (12.5%)
Shots/on target – 0/0
Dribbles/completed – 3/1 (33%)
via Sofascore
Nunes is one of the fastest players in the Premier League and is a good ball carrier. So there was potential for him to get joy against the England international, especially with Jeremy Doku not fully match-sharp.
But unfortunately, the Portuguese failed to deliver this time, resulting in him being taken off just before the hour mark.
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