The bombshell that Kevin De Bruyne will leave Manchester City in the summer has overshadowed the buildup to the Manchester derby, but Pep Guardiola has a more pressing absence to deal with: working out how to play without the injured Erling Haaland.
The Norwegian has scored 21 of Manchester City’s 57 league goals and few would argue he is not the best striker in the world. Before Wednesday’s victory over Leicester, he had missed one Premier League match all season, clocking up the second-highest number of minutes of any City player.
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The ankle injury sustained at Bournemouth in last Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final will keep him out for up to seven weeks, forcing Guardiola to find a solution to another unwanted problem when City travel to Old Trafford on Sunday. Rodri has missed most of the season and Haaland’s absence removes another pivotal figure in the manager’s plans.
Guardiola addressed the Rodri issue in January, signing Nico González because they had no natural replacement. City also moved to find a prolific scorer after spending the first half of the season without a second recognised striker, having sold Julián Alvarez to Atlético Madrid and knowing that any injury to Haaland would leave their Champions League chances in further jeopardy.
There is the natural risk anyone arriving mid-season will need time to settle, especially with the complication that City were in a slump at the time, but that has not been a problem for Omar Marmoush. The Egyptian can play anywhere across the frontline and has done so in his brief career in England. Marmoush has five goals in seven Premier League starts, including a hat-trick against Newcastle.
“I feel comfortable playing in all [the attacking] positions,” Marmoush says. “For my national team I play on the wing, here I play as a No 9, in the pocket as a No 8 or as a winger. It always depends on what the coach needs. I feel like I am dangerous in each position. I always try to do my best and listen to what the coach demands from me.”
It is not advantageous for Haaland to be missing against United, but what Marmoush and his fellow forwards offer will worry their opponents. Marmoush has great speed, makes intelligent runs and is able to find space in the area, where his teammates often find him.
United’s defence is starting to settle under their relatively new head coach but they struggle against pace. Anthony Elanga showed what could be done when breaking against them on Tuesday, running almost the length of the pitch to hit the winner for Nottingham Forest.
“I am just trying to learn from the players around me, trying to take a bit from everyone and, of course, from Pep: all of the instructions he gives us and the experience he tells us,” Marmoush says. “The learning never stops.”
The likely front four of Marmoush, Jérémy Doku, Phil Foden and Savinho would be capable of pulling United’s three central defenders and their full-backs around to create space, especially with the tiring legs of Casemiro at the base of the hosts’ midfield.
Wednesday’s defeat of Leicester provided two silver linings for Guardiola despite the Haaland cloud, with Oscar Bobb playing for the first time since August and Jack Grealish scoring his first league goal in 16 months. Bobb was the reason Cole Palmer was sold to Chelsea and he could be a huge influence on the run-in, as could a confident Grealish. Guardiola has not trusted Grealish as much as in previous seasons, wanting to see more when it matters, but there have been recent glimpses against Plymouth and Leicester of the different offering he brings.
Despite the positives against Leicester, a team almost certainly heading down, Guardiola will be concerned more goals were not scored. City had 18 shots but only five on target, and the Spaniard cannot blame the ball for the wayward finishing. Profligacy is rarely associated with Haaland and City’s other players need to maintain calm when the chances come.
In the league, Foden is City’s second-highest scorer with seven, while Doku has three, Bernardo Silva two and Savinho a solitary strike. Guardiola needs his players to step up against United, especially considering the desperate home defeat by United in December.
The opportunity for revenge and the call for others to prove their worth as a collective replacement for Haaland could be a heady mix for Guardiola and City. Now they need to deliver.
