Analysis: Why De Bruyne can reignite Man City's title defence

Adrian Clarke looks at key tactical points and players who can be decisive in Matchweek 15.

Player analysis: Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

De Bruyne makes Manchester City better, and we were handed a reminder of that in midweek when he inspired them to a first win in eight matches, beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home.

The eye test almost always tells you that Pep Guardiola’s side are more fluid and cohesive when De Bruyne is on the pitch.

CRY

2-2

MCI

Highlights Available

close

TV Info - Broadcasters

And the numbers absolutely confirm his importance too.

When De Bruyne has started, City have now gone 31 Premier League matches unbeaten, winning 26 of them.

In those matches he has provided 16 assists and scored nine times.

If he is named in City's starting XI on Saturday afternoon, it could be bad news for Crystal Palace.

A brilliant return

De Bruyne made his first full appearance since mid-September against Forest, and was in sparkling form all evening, leading Nuno Espirito Santo’s side a merry dance.

He had five attempts on goal, scoring once, and he created four chances, which included an assist.

Despite it being only his fifth top-flight start of the campaign, De Bruyne recorded more than four shots and created more than four chances for the third time this season.

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka is the only player to have achieved that feat more often.

Key: Green - successful pass, yellow - chance created, red - failed pass

How did he make a difference against Forest?

De Bruyne’s spatial awareness was superb against Forest, and it helped City create far better goalscoring opportunities than we had recently seen from them.

For their opening goal, De Bruyne (circled in red) deliberately held back his run at the far post, identifying that Forest’s retreating defenders all had their eyes fixed on the ball, rather than his position in space.

Resisting the urge to sprint into the far post domain too early, he gave himself time to pick out an accurate header that was tapped in by Bernardo Silva.

Early in the contest he also carved out a good chance for Erling Haaland, that owed everything to his bright thinking down the right wing.

De Bruyne fed the ball wide to Silva and intelligently followed his pass, with the intention of creating a 2v1 overlap around Alex Moreno.

It was an excellent run that bought him the time he needed to look up and see where City’s top scorer was inside the box.

Picking out the perfect avenue, his low cross was met first time by Haaland, whose shot was well saved.

For the goal he scored, De Bruyne’s awareness of his immediate surroundings were also on point.

As Jeremy Doku took up possession, De Bruyne (circled in red) gently drifted towards him in the knowledge that behind him, a lovely pocket of space had been left open by Forest.

As soon as the defenders moved forward to approach Doku, De Bruyne back-pedalled into the "D", and asked for the pass.

The room afforded to him was such that De Bruyne could take a touch before setting himself properly for the cleanest of strikes.

It was brilliant, subtle imagination from De Bruyne.

How De Bruyne made space...

...And how De Bruyne finished

City missed his artistry

At 33, De Bruyne's imagination and technical quality have shown no signs of diminishing.

It is well documented that a thigh injury has restricted his game time so far in 2024/25, but when available, City’s No 17 has delivered more than his fellow attacking midfielders.

On a per 90-minute basis, he has outshone his team-mates when it comes to chance creation, setting up big chances, delivering through-balls and making the most of set-pieces.

Man City's chief creators 24/25

The standard of De Bruyne’s free-kick and corner deliveries are consistently better than Guardiola’s alternative options.

And his eye for a penetrative through-ball is sorely missed when he is unavailable.

He ranks second behind Fulham’s Andreas Pereira (2.15) for the most key passes from set-pieces per 90, while Saka is the only Premier League star to carve out more big chances (1.43) per 90 than the City talisman.

Overall, it is De Bruyne who leads the way in the division for the most chances created per 90 minutes this season.

Haaland will be happier

De Bruyne’s return to the starting XI did not bring about a goal for top-scorer Haaland, but after netting only twice in his last nine appearances, the Norwegian will be pleased to have him back.

Since the start of the 2023/24 season, Haaland has scored 20 goals in 17 matches when the Belgian featured from the start, compared to 18 in 26 games without him.

That record highlights the chemistry they share.

As a player who is virtually peerless when it comes to delivering great through-balls - like this example below against Ipswich Town earlier on this season - or pinpoint deliveries from the wing, it is not a surprising statistic.

The table below shows that while Haaland receives just as many chances with or without De Bruyne, his prospects of converting them are greatly enhanced when they share the same pitch.

Haaland PL stats with/without De Bruyne starting

Rotate your mobile device to see full table

It will be interesting to see how De Bruyne copes if he does make his second start in four days, and also how Palace go about trying to stop him influencing this match.

Midfield options Cheick Doucoure, Jefferson Lerma and Will Hughes must always keep their eye on where City’s chief creator is and deny him those areas of space he is so good at identifying.

Man City with/without De Bruyne starting 24/25

Will the Belgian’s return spark a much-needed winning run for Man City?

Given they currently boast a 100 per cent record with De Bruyne in the starting line-up, do not write off the prospect of that happening.

Next: Adrian Clarke previews Spurs v Chelsea

Also in this series