Man City: How big a loss is Aymeric Laporte to Pep Guardiola?

The champions of the Premier League are a man down, and it appears to be a big man down with Aymeric Laporte missing from the team selection. Is this a huge deal or will Pep survive?

In any team, a player of Laporte’s importance is a colossal miss. However, the brilliance of Pep Guardiola is second to none. Judging by his previous madness and makeshift defence we’ve seen him use last season this could force the man in charge to use some mad science again.

The unsung hero of last season was veteran, Fernandinho. He was the manager’s go-to guy. And mind you, always 100 per cent reliable as he did over and above in his different roles. The Man City boss needed the old man to compete with the Premier League’s best in vital parts of last season.

In his regular role, protecting the backline, he did it effortlessly as if he was pulling all the strings and everybody was just playing in his game. In defence, well everybody could name him as one of three central defenders on paper but when the whistle blew for kickoff, he was the furthest up the pitch for most parts of the game.

But will it be the same case this season? He has only seen one appearance in the opening four fixtures. This originating from the loss of Laporte. A forced 37-minute substitution saw him get his first taste of the 2019-2020 campaign.

Report on Laporte

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"City released a statement on Wednesday, revealing that Laporte damaged his cartilage and lateral meniscus during the 4-0 victory over Brighton at the weekend.City have now revealed that Laporte has damaged his cartilage and lateral meniscus and has undergone surgery in Barcelona. He will now begin his recovery, with City not giving a time frame on a possible return date. He is not expected to feature before the new year, however. (via: Manchester Evening News)"

Pep will survive without the Frenchman

Pep has gone with his new boy Rodrigo and the return of fully fit Kevin de Bruyne in the centre of the park, leaving Fernandinho on the bench. With the Frenchman out for an unknown time frame, the Brazilian will be used a lot more, if not most of the time in his absence.

Young players, Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Belli will be called up as precautions, and would probably do an outstanding job under the Spaniard. But why Pep will survive and has the ability to overcome a loss of such a key figure?

Man City and Liverpool defend from the front and are always going to outscore their opponents. Their unbeaten run of four has seen them top the charts this campaign. Leading the goal scored category with 14, having only let in three (two coming in one game). Closest to them are leaders, Liverpool with 12 goals.

This has been achieved without the inclusion of hitman, Leroy Sane, who is also out injured. Giving clear indication they have enough artillery in their arsenal.  The Blues of Manchester keep possession for the majority of the 90 minutes being played. A ballplayer in the hole created by the injured Aymeric Laporte is all Pep needs in this time.

Only a string of poor performances causing poor results will force the hand of Pep during the January transfer window.