Why Man City need Phil Foden to step up in Arsenal showdown | OneFootball

Manchester City could be without Kevin De Bruyne when they host Arsenal in the Premier League this weekend.

The Belgian is an injury doubt after picking up a knock in Man City’s goalless draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League in midweek.

“He feels a little bit better today but we have not yet had training and we will see. He could be [involved],” Pep Guardiola said of the Belgian.

De Bruyne has played 357 minutes for Man City in the Premier League this season, and has picked up from where he left off last season. The midfielder missed a large part of the campaign due to injury but when he returned it was like he never left.

In 18 appearances last season, De Bruyne created 59 chances and provided 10 assists. Only two players provided more assists in the Premier League than the Belgian.

This season, De Bruyne may have only provided one assist so far, but he remains one of the most creative players in the Premier League. He has created 16 chance so far, with only Dwight McNeil (17) creating more.

De Bruyne is also only second to McNeil in Expected Assists, with a tally of 2.16. So his lack of assists is currently more down to the chances not being finished. Which is strange to say for a team that has Erling Haaland.

Outside of De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva has created the second-most chances for Man City in the Premier League this season. But the Portuguese midfielder’s number is less than half (seven). So, Man City may hope for a performance from a man with 45 minutes in the Premier League this season.

Phil Foden is yet to start for Man City this season, having struggled with slight knocks and illness after an extended summer break. There was no need for Guardiola to risk his Player of the Year in a manageable start to the season.

But now Foden is ready to play 90 minutes. And it’s at the perfect time.

Foden was Man City’s star last season, playing an integral role to their record-breaking fourth-consecutive Premier League title win. He was directly involved in 27 goals, scoring 19 himself with eight assists. Now, those eight assists don’t really match up to De Bruyne’s numbers, but he was setting up chances.

The 24-year-old created 73 chances in the Premier League last season, the seventh-most in the division. But he sat ahead of any other Man City player, with Julian Alvarez next up on 67. Foden also created 10 big chances and attempted 15 through balls, the latter the joint-most for Man City.

When Man City needed Foden to step up, more often than not he did. But, there is the question of his record in matches against Man City’s fellow Big Six sides.

Last season, Foden scored or assisted in just three of his 10 league games against Big Six teams. He scored home and away against Manchester United, while also netting vs Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad. But that means he blanked home and away against Arsenal — as Man City did as a whole — as well as in both fixtures against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Looking at those matches in particular, Foden created just 10 chances across 10 games — though four of his 10 overall big chances created were against Big Six sides. Of course, he did score four goals. But Man City need a creative replacement.

It’s something Foden has generally struggled with at Man City. In the Premier League, Foden has played 42 games against Big Six sides, scoring 13 with five assists. Six of those goals have come against Man United, by far and away his favourite opponents.

Against Arsenal, Foden has seven Premier League appearances with one goal and two assists. Two of those goal involvements came in the 2019-20 campaign, while it’s important to note that Foden did also only play 16 minutes against Arsenal in the 2022-23 season.

But Foden has grown since then and there is a lot more expectation on him to step up. The question is, can he be the De Bruyne replacement Man City need this weekend?