Manchester City welcome Aston Villa to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon and Pep Guardiola is sure to make changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
One of which may be in attack, as Julian Alvarez started alongside Erling Haaland but didn’t make much of an impact in North London. Guardiola dropped Kevin De Bruyne to start with two attackers, but he’s likely to reverse that decision against Villa.
Alvarez is a hard-working player who is brilliant at pulling defences apart with his running, but the 23-year-old hasn’t scored a lot lately (2 PL goals since August) so it might be the right decision to rest him.
The Argentine international has made 27 appearances in all competitions, scoring a respectable nine goals with two assists, but Alvarez hasn’t been given as much opportunity in the league with 5/21 PL starts (23.8%) and 568/1890 minutes of playing time (30%).
Only two City outcasts have averaged fewer passes per game than Alvarez (11.9) and only three players have a worse accuracy (81.6%), so it’s overkill having him start alongside Haaland.
City can dominate the ball better by packing the midfield and Haaland won’t be dropped after scoring 28 goals in 31 games this season, so Julian may have to make way.
In other news, Riyad Mahrez should start v Aston Villa despite poor Tottenham performance
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