Hidden message
Pep Guardiola slipped in a telling message to his players after the hard-fought win at Leicester.
The Manchester City manager said, when talking about his squad: “This is the only reason we had success in previous seasons, everyone made contributions and the guys who played well have more options to play in the next one. The guys who don’t play well have more problems.”
City were good at Leicester, but one or two individuals - notably Ferran Torres and Gabriel Jesus - let their standard slip from the 5-0 maulings of Norwich and Arsenal.
With Raheem Sterling champing at the bit and Riyad Mahrez one of City’s top performers in last season’s Champions League, both could pay the price for a drop in level.
Delayed return
Ideally for Pep Guardiola, Manchester City would have cruised to a comfortable win at the King Power on Saturday, and Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden would both have been given half an hour of action from the bench.
But the tight, tense nature of the game meant both stayed parked on the bench.
Guardiola has had no qualms about throwing De Bruyne back into action in the past, and given the important nature of this game, in a very tough group, he is likely to do so again.
Foden is further behind in his rehabilitation, only returning to full training on Thursday, and so is likely to stay on the bench.
RB weakness
The return of Angelino to the Etihad Stadium is an interesting sideshow.
City know all about his attacking prowess - he was often playing as an inverted left back in the youth ranks, and was a regular goalscorer and creator.
But the Blues are also aware that the reason he was released was because he was defensively suspect - he was exposed badly by Chelsea in an FA Youth Cup final and similarly suffered after his ill-fated return to City when thrown in against Liverpool and United.
City will target that weakness - whether that be through Mahrez, Jesus, Kyle Walker or someone else.
Rotten start
Guardiola claimed this game will be the most difficult game in the group, ignoring the fact that Paris St Germain away is next up!
But the City boss meant it in a “the next game is always the most difficult one” way because Leipzig have been very ordinary this season so far.
Three defeats from their first four games has left them languishing, Arsenal-style, in the lower reaches of the Bundesliga.
Guardiola might point out that the three defeats were to 100-per-centers Wolfsburg, champions Bayern Munich and Mainz, who have also started very well to sit fourth.
Point blank
The manager pointed out at the weekend that it was City’s defence that won them the Premier League last season.
It was also the biggest factor in them reaching the Champions League final, with just one goal conceded in six group games and another three leaked in six knockout games against Borussia Monchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and PSG.
The Blues will be aiming to reprise that kind of consistency and a clean sheet tonight would be the perfect start.
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