Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus appearing in the same starting eleven is something of a football rarity these days.
Both men were in the Manchester City line-up at Newcastle at the weekend as Pep Guardiola took a hard line with Phil Foden and Jack Grealish for the fact they went to a nightclub after last week’s win over Leeds.
Other than that, the only two occasions the Brazil star and Algeria ace started together were against West Ham, when Grealish, Foden and Kevin De Bruyne were all unavailable through injury or illness, and three days later, when Grealish and Foden were only deemed fit enough for the bench.
The season has been more of a case of those two very different players tussling over one place in the team - the right-wing slot.
Jesus has been dominant in that contest after a blazing start to the season, and he has 13 Premier League starts to Mahrez’s six.
But when it comes to the Champions League, Guardiola always turns to Mahrez - he has lined up for all six group games, while Jesus has yet to make a start in European competition this season.
It is easy to forget that Mahrez’s inclusion - and Jesus omission - in the Champions League opener against RB Leipzig in September was a mild surprise.
Jesus was a beneficiary of Guardiola’s decision to shake up his team after the opening-day defeat at Spurs, and was City’s best player as they bounced back with 5-0 wins over Norwich and Arsenal.
But Guardiola turned to Mahrez, who excelled on European nights last season when the biggest club stage of all came around.
And the pattern has stayed roughly like that since, with the hard-working, quick, physically combative Jesus generally starting in the domestic league and Mahrez’s extra touch of class and eye for a goal at big moments being called upon for the Champions League.
Mahrez has earned that reputation as the man for the big occasion, not least in last season’s semi-final when he scored in both legs against Paris Saint-Germain.
There is nothing to separate Jesus and Mahrez in terms of the stats, either.
The former Leicester man has four goals and three assists in the Premier League, and five goals and no assists in Europe, while Jesus has two goals and seven assists in the league and three goals and an assist in Europe.
When Jesus joined City as a lively teenager back in the winter of 2017, you would have expected those stats to be the other way around.
He was the sharp young striker brought in to give competition to, and shake up, Sergio Aguero.
After joining in January, and suffering an injury that claimed a chunk of his debut season, he ended with eight goals in 12 appearances - the kind of figures that made Aguero a legend.
But Kun fought back added more approach play and defensive work to his game and kept on scoring at the same phenomenal rate, and by halfway through the following campaign Jesus was very much an understudy to the legend.
Deprived of a run of games, his confidence suffered, the goals “dried up” - although he still had one of the most lethal strike rates in Premier League history - and there was plenty of talk of him heading out of the door.
His re-invention as a right-winger, a role he frequently took in the youth ranks at Palmeiras and had also played for Brazil, proved to be his City salvation.
Without the pressure of being the man to shoulder the goalscoring burden Aguero carried for so many seasons, Jesus blossomed again, and his performance in the seminal defeat of Real Madrid in the 2019-20 Champions League, when he was man of the match and scored in both legs, served notice that he was far from finished as a Blue.
This season, the transformation from in-out, bit-part striker to old-fashioned right-winger who puts in the kind of defensive stint that Guardiola loves, has been complete.
Who do you prefer on the City right? Let us know in our comments section here
The manager has spoken of how, against certain formations and certain players, he prefers the more traditional winger - a left-footer on the left, right-footer on the right - rather than inverted wide men like Jack Grealish and Mahrez, who draw markers, check inside and then utilise the space they create with square passes or accurate inswinging crosses to the far post.
It was not a huge surprise that Guardiola picked Phil Foden on the left and Jesus on the right for the biggest game of the season so far - the 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.
Not only do those two players work tirelessly, and so guard against the way Jurgen Klopp uses his full-backs as playmakers, they are both able to take on those fullbacks for pace, hug the by-line and cross.
Foden destroyed James Milner in that game, while Jesus tied down Andy Robertson, so often the source of Liverpool danger, on the other side.
Of course, there was an element of rotation involved, as Mahrez and Raheem Sterling had taken the wide berths four days earlier against PSG.
But the way Mahrez and Jesus have been utilised by Guardiola is very much within his “horses for courses” way of thinking, and will probably continue to be so.
Jesus has the added bonus that he is able to take on the selfless, near-sacrificial central role, as he did at Newcastle on Sunday, when his occupation of the centre backs freed up space for others.
He even had time to remind everyone of his wing credentials by skinning Jacob Murphy and hitting the by-line before squaring to present Sterling with a simple tap-in.
With most people focussed on the fascinating rotation of the false nine position, or on who Guardiola picks out of Grealish, Foden or Sterling on the left, the friendly fight between Jesus and Mahrez on the other side rages on.
And it is a healthy competition that is adding plenty of fuel to City’s bid for success on multiple fronts this season.
In terms of goal involvements (goals plus assists) in Premier League and Champions League this season, Jesus and Mahrez lead the way with 12 each, ahead of Joao Cancelo on ten, and Foden, Sterling and Bernardo Silva on nine each.
It is the left side of City’s attack that provokes most debate and interest, but it is the right side that is providing most of the goals.
