Omar Marmoush picked up a knee injury on international duty and is out of Manchester City’s derby clash with Manchester United this weekend.
If goals are the order of the day for Manchester City at the moment, then the sight of Omar Marmoush on crutches in Egypt on Wednesday morning was a dispiriting one.
Erling Haaland showed he remains in fine fettle after scoring five in Norway’s 11-1 win against Moldova, but City’s challenge is finding enough goals to support the striker, who can’t do it all on his own.
That is partly why Marmoush has started back-to-back games on the left. With Phil Foden still absent, Marmoush is the only other natural goalscorer in Pep Guardiola’s squad.
The 26-year-old scored eight goals for the Blues after signing for £59million from Eintracht Frankfurt in January, having rattled in 15 goals in 17 games in the Bundesliga in the first half of the season.
With Marmoush ruled out of Sunday’s Manchester derby, and Foden only likely to make the bench if he is fit, goals will once again be a problem for City. It seems that if teams can limit Haaland, then they can stop the rest of the City side.
Bernardo Silva will surely start in the most advanced midfield role, but he has just three goals for City in 2025. Tijjani Reijnders showed an eye for goal at AC Milan last season and scored on his Premier League debut, but needs to rediscover his form after two disappointing displays.
Haaland really needs support from out wide. Get Marmoush on the left and Foden on the right, and he would probably get it, but without those two, it is an issue.
Guardiola preferred Jeremy Doku and Savinho in the Club World Cup. Both are exciting to watch, but struggle to deliver an end product. Doku has six goals in 60 Premier League games for City and Savinho just one in 29 Premier League appearances. With Savinho yet to appear this season, Oscar Bobb is a likely starter on the right.
That puts the pressure on Doku to stand in for Marmoush. The winger scored twice in Belgium’s 6-0 win against Kazakhstan and continues to catch the eye on international duty.
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