Two days after extending the contract of striking sensation Erling Haaland in a record contract at Manchester City, there are some Premier League mistakes to be addressed away to Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon.
The newly crowned champions spurned a two-goal lead to be held to an entertaining 2-2 draw by Brentford in the week, while the Tractor Boys were unable to replicate the Bees’ escape act after losing to Brighton & Hove Albion at home.
After securing top form with three consecutive victories before heading to the Gtech Community Stadium, a rejuvenated Man City could have come packing a world of confidence seeing that their hosts, Brentford, had been recently bundled out of the FA Cup with a home loss to Plymouth Argyle.
The travelling faithful would seemingly enjoy a stress-free final 10 minutes after a second-half brace from Phil Foden but Yoane Wissa quickly cut the deficit in half, before Bees captain Christian Norgaard rise above his marker and power home an unbelievable equaliser for Thomas Frank’s men.
It was not quite the collapse of Feyenoord by Pep Guardiola’s side but a bad one as they lost the golden chance to level up with Chelsea on the Premier League standings and take up the final Champions League spot from Newcastle United by three points.
It is, however, a five-game unbeaten run, which is better than their horrendous autumn spell, and Citizens fans must have been heading to work happy on Friday morning when the club signed an unbelievable record-breaking nine-and-a-half-year contract for Haaland.
While Haaland pledged his future to the league champions until just a few months before his 34th birthday, he will now want to repeat his treble in the second half of the game against City’s Ipswich Town, 4-1, to become only the second Premier League player who scored hat-tricks both at home and at the opponent’s stadium in a single campaign, apart from Emmanuel Adebayor.
Thursday’s loss was a tough pill to swallow for McKenna’s team, who had been riding high with an impressive three-game unbeaten streak across all competitions – including a memorable home win over Chelsea. However, the midweek defeat has now left them languishing in the relegation zone, with goals scored the deciding factor.
It’s no surprise that the Tractor Boys have struggled against the reigning Premier League champions, having lost five and drawn one of their last six encounters with the holders. Their last victory over Manchester United in the 1994-95 season remains a standout, but since then, Ipswich has found it challenging to get the better of the top dogs. In fact, the last time they managed to secure a win against Manchester City was way back in 2001, with Ipswich having won all four of their recent home games against the Citizens in that stretch.
In a surprising move, Guardiola chose Matheus Nunes to step in at right-back against Salford City, replacing Walker, just like he did in the FA Cup thrashing. But with an important Champions League clash against Paris Saint-Germain coming up next Wednesday, some rotation may be on the cards.
Soon, City’s regulars will get a bit of relief with the expected signings of Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov. However, don’t expect them to be ready in time for the weekend’s match.
Now, on to the present—Kalvin Phillips won’t be available to face his parent club this weekend. This opens the door for McKenna to bring Sam Morsy back into the midfield, likely alongside Jens Cajuste.
On the attacking front, the Tractor Boys have bolstered their squad by signing Jaden Philogene from Aston Villa permanently. It's very possible we could see the 22-year-old make his debut this Sunday.
Few were surprised to learn that wantaway Citizens right-back Kyle Walker did not play in the Brentford tie after expressing his wish to go; he is unlikely to play at Portman Road but appears no closer to completing a move overseas.
John Stones (foot) is about to make a comeback, but Guardiola is likely to be cautious with the center-back given his previous history of problems. The same is true for the injured trio of Rodri (ACL), Oscar Bobb (leg), and Ruben Dias (calf).
