Manchester City are back in action on Saturday with a Premier League clash against Fulham.
Following their 1-1 draw against Newcastle United last weekend, City then secured their first Champions League win of the season on Tuesday night with a 4-0 thrashing of Slovan Bratislava.
This time around, with Pep Guardiola’s side turning their attention back to the Premier League, they will be back on home turf when they take on the Cottagers at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
For the match against Bratislava, the City manager made five changes to the starting XI that drew at St. James’ Park, having the likes of Rodri, Nathan Ake, Kevin De Bruyne and Oscar Bobb out injured.
Looking ahead to the Fulham match, one player who got a chance to impress in midweek didn’t end up doing enough to warrant a place in the starting XI this time around.
Pep Guardiola must drop Matheus Nunes for Man City vs Fulham
After scoring his first goal for the club in their 2-1 win over Watford in the Carabao Cup, Matheus Nunes started and completed the full 90 minutes in City’s midweek match in Slovakia.
Even though he created two big chances against Bratislava, the midfielder still lost possession 14 times in total as well as losing six of the 10 duels he was involved in.
Despite the home side only having 24% possession and three shots at goal throughout the game, Nunes still failed to register even one tackle or interception.
This display ultimately earned the Portuguese international an overall match rating of 7.4/10 from SofaScore, making him the second-lowest-rated outfield City player on the night.
Taking all of that on board, even though City will be without Rodri for the rest of the season as a result of the knee injury he picked up against Arsenal, Nunes didn’t show Guardiola in midweek that he deserves to start against Fulham.
Who should Guardiola start against Fulham instead of Nunes?
In terms of who Guardiola could pick to play in midfield instead of Nunes for the upcoming match against Fulham, Ilkay Gundogan’s performance against Bratislava – which earned him a SofaScore match rating of 8.6/10 – showed why he should keep his place in the team.
Beyond that, the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva, who have started all six of City’s league games this season, didn’t feature in midweek and therefore should be fresh enough to take on Fulham.
As for Nunes, who City paid £53m to sign from Wolves back in 2023, he may have to wait for the next Champions League or Carabao Cup game to show that he deserves a more regular spot in the team.
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