Raheem Sterling holds the key to Manchester City’s success against Hoffenheim
After stamping their authority in the top tier of English football last season, Manchester City have once again made a fantastic start to their Premier League campaign. Going by the kind of intensity that the Cityzens have shown in the early stages of the season, few can bet against them retaining their Premier League crown.
Pep Guardiola’s men have won six out of their first seven games in the Premier League and the Sky Blues currently sit atop the league standings with 19 points. Furthermore, they have the best scoring record in the Premier League this season, having scored 21 goals so far in the competition.
However, Manchester City seemed to be outplayed by Lyon on matchday one of the Champions League. Goals from Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir ensured that they would have to wait to open their account. Guardiola’s men were really poor on the day and lacked the intensity to compete at the highest level.
After an authoritative 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion, Manchester City will be making the trip to Germany to face Hoffenheim on Tuesday. The Bundesliga side are making their first appearance in the group stages of the competition, having lost out to Liverpool in the playoffs last year.
Although Hoffenheim haven’t hit the ground running in the Bundesliga and the recent results haven’t gone their way on the domestic front, they did well to earn a point away from home with a 2-2 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk on matchday one.
The Champions League newcomers will not make life easy and one can expect them to play their natural game without the burden of expectations.
However, City will be the hot favourites and Pep Guardiola must be keen on getting back to winning ways in the Champions League. And he should bank on the brilliance of Raheem Sterling, who joined the club for £49m, to achieve the desired results.
Raheem Sterling has been in red-hot form this season and has been City’s most influential figure in the final third. Not only has he linked up effectively with Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva to craft some amazing attacking moves but has also tormented the opposition’s defence with lung-busting runs coupled with wonderful dribbling skills.
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In the last game, he used every bit of his pace and showed commitment to make the most of Leroy Sane’s cross and gave Manchester City the lead with a clinical finish. His pace, agility and athleticism are bound to ask questions of a Hoffenheim backline that hasn’t been in the best of form in recent times.
With 4 goals and 2 assists in the Premier League, Sterling has helped the Cityzens to the top of the table with some impressive performances. Now, it is time for him to step up at the European stage to power the team to a much-needed victory.
