After one week of extra rest as a consequence of their Champions League exploits, Manchester City are set to kick-off their 2020/21 Premier League campaign tonight.
Pep Guardiola 's outfit are scheduled to face Wolves in what promises to be a tricky opening fixture against one of the most strategic sides in England.
The Etihad club will expect to pick up three points, but their management of one man in particular is likely to go a long way towards securing a valuable win.
Adama Traore is the player in question, with the Spaniard possessing highly applicable skills to facing his upcoming opposition.
It's reasonable to suggest that he's the quickest player in the Premier League, certainly over short distances, and he's able to combine that with strength, power and explosiveness.
Opposing defenders simply can't handle him and as a result, he's almost impossible to stop once presented with dribbling opportunities and space to exploit.
City exhibit dominance over most opponents by controlling proceedings and defending aggressively. Guardiola's defenders are positioned near the halfway line more often than not as a means of preventing counter-attacks and ensuring that pressure is maintained far from their own goal.
Against Adama, though, that ploy could easily become problematic.
Some 831 outfield players amassed over 1,500 minutes in Europe's top five leagues last season, with none averaging more dribble attempts per 90 than Traore. In addition, his success rate was better than any other player from the top 30 which includes the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Raheem Sterling and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Also, only three players from the group of 831 have averaged more progressive carries per 90 than Adama, with those being Papu Gomez, Lionel Messi and Jeremie Boga.
A progressive carry is loosely defined as a carry that moves the ball considerably forward without taking on an opponent, and it offers an insight into the dynamic nature of a player in regard to driving his team towards the final third.
Adama is clearly amongst Europe's elite when it comes to advancing with the ball at his feet, and that is notoriously difficult to do against City because of their assertiveness and governance over the field.
The Wolves man scored twice at the Etihad last season, as his pace embarrassed the likes of Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi in defence.
For the opener, City had possession inside Wolves' half, but once the ball was lost Nuno Espirito Santo's side broke through Raul Jimenez and Adama, as shown above.
14 minutes later, Wolves again thrived by counter-attacking through Adama, with the excessive space that he darted into pictured below.
The Spaniard is the ultimate threat for dominant teams that wish to play on their own terms.
Overall, the prospect of facing City would concern most Premier League bosses, but in Adama, Nuno has the perfect weapon at his disposal to hurt Guardiola's side.
If City fail to secure victory tonight, it's almost certain that Adama will be integral to any shortcoming.
