Manchester City drew 1-1 with Liverpool on Sunday evening but Riyad Mahrez was a notable absentee from the matchday squad.
Pep Guardiola named a front three of Gabriel Jesus, Ferran Torres and Raheem Sterling, leaving Bernardo Silva on the bench, and the Manchester Evening News have explained why.
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Prior to Sunday’s clash with Liverpool, Mahrez had played in 10 of City’s 11 games this season, scoring one goal with one assist, creating nine chances, making 12 successful dribbles and whipping in 16 crosses while amassing 784/990 minutes of playing time across the board. The 29-year-old wasn’t injured on Sunday but has been rested.
Silva was the only attacking option on the bench against Liverpool as Pep named with three central defenders (Eric Garcia, John Stones, Nathan Ake), one left-back (Oleksandr Zinchenko) and one midfielder (Phil Foden) among the substitutes.
We have an international break now, so Mahrez has plenty of time to recover for our trip to face Tottenham Hotspur (November 21). Sergio Aguero is expected to return by then too, so we’ll have a couple of attacking options back.