The Man City star Liverpool must stop is NOT Erling Haaland, it's Jeremy Doku

Sam McGuire

• 21 Nov 2023 14:00 GMT
• 5 min read

Manchester City host Liverpool on Sunday afternoon knowing a win opens up a four-point gap at the top of the Premier League table. The treble winners are in the midst of an injury crisis with a number of their players missing the international break.

At one stage, reports seemed to suggest the reigning champions would be without Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Rodri, Matheus Nunes, Ederson and Erling Haaland for the visit of Liverpool. Miraculously, though, most of them are set to be involved against the Reds. For a brief moment though, talk turned to how Pep Guardiola’s side would cope with Haaland.

The No9 leads the race for the Golden Boot this season with 13 goals. He’s found the back of the net nine times in his last six outings for City and chipped in with two assists. To say he’s found his groove again would be a bit of an understatement.

Yet he isn’t the player Liverpool need to focus on this weekend. Of course, they need to be wary of the goal machine but the individual the Reds need to truly be worried about is Jeremy Doku.

The 21-year-old has been a transformative signing for City following his summer move from Rennes. It was a surprise transfer coming towards the end of the window when the champions agreed to pay €60 million to secure his services.

Doku had previously been a transfer target for Liverpool and few would’ve ever thought the raw winger would’ve been on Guardiola’s wishlist. His team is a well-oiled machine who look to control the ball and the space. There isn’t really a place in the team for a wildcard. Just look at how Jack Grealish had to adapt his game to fit in with the demands of the Catalan coach.

However, in his short-time in England, Doku has transformed City as a threat. He’s not single-handedly carrying them, though his showing against Bournemouth was truly remarkable, but he has added an unpredictability to an otherwise usually predictable attack. This makes them more dangerous as a unit.

The 21-year-old was named in the starting XI for the trip to an in-form West Ham side due to an injury to Jack Grealish in mid-September and he made the most of it. Doku scored the equaliser early in the second half as the 2022/23 treble winners came from behind to keep their 100% record alive at the time.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Guardiola was fawning over the former Rennes attacker, saying: "In his first game I had the feeling he played a little bit shy. When you buy a young player like him for four, five years you have to be patient. We can’t expect too much.

"His first game against Fulham was only so so. It’s normal. He had just arrived, had two or three days of training with the team who had won the Treble. But this time — no. This time was much better. There are positives, he has to learn. Everyone has to be themselves as a player.

"Today, we spoke for him to use his quality as a winger and go when it was one against one or two, or if not the feeling to go past then to pass back to Josko [Gvardiol] and go again. Use your quality and lose the ball? It's no problem. From the first minute, aggressive and with determination, many, many good things he has done. We thought the quality was there and today he started to prove it - not just the goal. This is a winger, a proper winger.

"When you buy a young player like him for many years, we have to be patient. I will be honest, I didn't expect he would be at this level in his second game at Man City. Even if you don't play quite well, be patient, learn when to get the ball. Against Fulham, he got the ball close to Kyle [Walker] but today he was higher. They are processes he has to learn and we are always there to help him and every player has to be themselves. All the players are here because they have a lot of quality."

Since his showing against West Ham, he has an assist and a goal against RB Leipzig in the Champions League, an assist against Brighton, and a goal and four assists against Bournemouth. During this international break, he chipped in with two assists in Belgium’s 5-0 win over Azerbaijan.

He’s in form and he’s likely going to start on the left-side of the City attack. If Trent Alexander-Arnold inverts, Doku will find himself up against one of Ibrahima Konate or Joel Matip in lots of space. If the Liverpool No66 is tasked with defending more, he’s up against of the best dribblers in the league and he tends to struggle against this type of winger. Either way, the City No11 is going to be key for the hosts on Saturday and he could be the difference-maker.