Jonathan Wilson has previewed Sunday?s big game; it?s not a title decider, more an eliminator.
Never before, not even in the four years when he had Lionel Messi in his side at Barcelona, has Guardiola focused his play so much on one player. After overhauling his squad since January, everything is geared to creating chances for Erling Haaland, who has scored a preposterous 27 goals in 17 games for club and country this season.
City?s leading scorer in the league this season after Haaland is Maxime Est?ve, who scored two own goals in City?s 5-1 win over Burnley in September. Once Guardiola would demand his side played 15 or 20 passes to deal with a potential counter before launching an attack; now everything is about trying to play Haaland in quickly behind the opposing defensive line.
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