5 talking points from Manchester City’s 7-2 Stoke win

Manchester City continued their fine league form with a superb 7-2 victory over Stoke City at the Etihad this weekend. Pep Guardiola claimed it was City’s ‘best performance since he arrived’ at the club as the Citizens dominated their former boss Mark Hughes’s side. With a number of eye-catching displays in this nine goal thriller, here are five of our key talking points from Saturday’s game:

1. Kevin de Bruyne is on course to be Player of the Year

During pre-season, we claimed that Kevin de Bruyne was overpriced in the Player of the Year betting market and we’re feeling pretty confident right about now. From the huge 16/1 on offer in the summer, the Belgian is now priced at just 2/1 with BetVictor to take the crown from predecessor N’Golo Kante. It’s really no surprise either after outrageous displays like we saw against Stoke. De Bruyne controlled the final third for the full 66 minutes before his substitution, completing 88% of his passes in a more advanced role and providing three particularly sublime passes. Although he only officially chalked up two assists, his sensational no look pass through to Leroy Sane for City’s second goal was as good as an assist with Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus queuing up in the box.

2. Leroy Sane has the tools to be world class

The headlines may not surround the German winger, but Leroy Sane will be the front page story in years to come; along with the already much-adored Gabriel Jesus. The 21 year old had already chalked up three league goals in seven appearances, including four from the bench before yesterday’s game, but the highlights simply didn’t do justice for how fantastic his performance was. It always helps to have top class players surrounding you, but Sane had all of his markers including Geoff Cameron, Thomas Edwards and Kurt Zouma on strings routinely throughout the 90 minutes. In addition to his lightning speed and terrific dribbling ability, Sane has the intelligence to time and perfect his runs to beat the offside trap, he is always in space for a pass and he ultimately has the vision and finishing ability to conclude attacking moves.

3. Jack Butland deserves better than Stoke

Usually goalkeepers don’t come out of high scoring defeats with much credit, but Jack Butland deserves a degree of credit for his performance. The majority of City’s goals came from clear goalscoring opportunities due to defensive indiscipline and poor positional play in the defensive line. Though it was difficult for the England international to make much of an impact on the result, Butland’s strong one-handed save from Kevin de Bruyne at the end of the first half deserves a lot of credit; especially considering the ferocity de Bruyne got behind his effort. That save kept the score at 3-1, and Stoke scored instantly after the break to make it 3-2. Should they have found an equaliser, Butland’s heroic stop would have earned a lot more praise. With Joe Hart evidently on the decline, Butland could rightfully be England’s number one heading into the 2018 World Cup.

4. John Stones and Fernandinho deserve plaudits for their consistency

John Stones in particular got a lot of flak for City’s defensive vulnerabilities last season, rightly or wrongly, but now the pendulum should be swinging the other way. Against Stoke, Stones put in a superb defensive showcase committing four strong tackles of the five he had to make, completing 99% of his passes and showing great leadership and control in captain Vincent Kompany’s continued absence. Meanwhile, Brazilian international Fernandinho impressed while displaying a willing to adapt under Pep Guardiola last season and he certainly doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his consistency. Since signing in 2013, the 32 year old has put in bright, brave and industrious displays at the heart of City’s midfield time and time again. His goal was an absolute thunderbolt, but his constant cool persona in the centre of the park doesn’t get enough credit; Fernandinho is comfortably one of the most underrated players in the Premier League right now.

5. Stoke must invest and attract to avoid serious decline

Stoke aren’t a team who are much-discussed in the Premier League right now, and Acca Tips believe a lot of that has been put down to a gradual club stagnation. Mark Hughes is now in his fifth season in charge of the Potters and, although we saw improvements initially, Stoke are becoming a side in danger of exiting the Premier League. After Saturday’s pummelling, Hughes’s side are just three points above 18th place with Brighton, Everton and Leicester all yet to play below them. Despite strong results against Manchester United and Arsenal, they were a tad fortunate to beat Southampton and their away form has been atrocious for some time.

The club turned over a profit in the summer, letting a plethora of first team players leave and largely signing players who had failed to live up to expectations with other clubs (see: Jese Rodriguez, Eric Choupo-Moting, Bruno Martins Indi and Kevin Wimmer). Ultimately, they are probably strong enough to stay afloat once again, but the board must invest heavily in the squad soon enough to avoid an inevitable decline.