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Manchester City’s lack of a prolific forward could be costly

Manchester City’s lack of a prolific forward could be costly
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Without a doubt, Manchester City were the best team in the Premier League last season, as the Citizens were crowned as English champions. Pep Guardiola’s team often played teams off the pitch.

However, their last three competitive matches have shone a light on a weakness in the champions team, actually putting the ball into the back of the net. City have now failed to score against Chelsea, Leicester and Tottenham.

There just seems to be something missing amid all that possession and attacking promise. That something is a prolific goalscorer. The exit of Sergio Aguero left City with just one senior forward in Gabriel Jesus.

Some will say that Aguero missed most of last season, while Jesus has never really convinced Guardiola as a long-term option. So much so that Spanish attacking midfielder Ferran Torres was selected ahead of him up front last time out.

The Citizens have been continually linked with Tottenham and England captain Harry Kane. The 28-year-old is reportedly keen on the move.

City have already seen a reported bid of around £120m turned down by the north London club. Time is running out until the summer transfer window shuts.

However, it is believed that City and Kane have not given up on a move taking place before the transfer window closes.

The alternative to Kane is City hoping that their attacking midfielders and Jesus can score enough goals to take them to glory. Without Aguero for much of last season, they did the job very well.

However, it is difficult to expect them to be prolific all season. Last season German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan scored a career-high 13 league goals, his previous record was just six in a season. He is unlikely to enjoy a similar goal-laden campaign.

Without a top striker, City may still have enough to retain their top-flight crown. However, signing a top striker would make them an even more difficult team to stop.

Premier League

Premier League
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Manchester City 91 38 28 7 3 62
2
Arsenal 89 38 28 5 5 62
3
Liverpool 82 38 24 10 4 45
4
Aston Villa 68 38 20 8 10 15
5
Tottenham 66 38 20 6 12 13
6
Chelsea 63 38 18 9 11 14
7
Newcastle United 60 38 18 6 14 23
8
Manchester United 60 38 18 6 14 -1
9
West Ham 52 38 14 10 14 -14
10
Crystal Palace 49 38 13 10 15 -1
11
Brighton 48 38 12 12 14 -7
12
Bournemouth 48 38 13 9 16 -13
13
Fulham 47 38 13 8 17 -6
14
Wolverhampton 46 38 13 7 18 -15
15
Everton 40 38 13 9 16 -11
16
Brentford 39 38 10 9 19 -9
17
Nottingham Forest 32 38 9 9 20 -18
18
Luton Town 26 38 6 8 24 -33
19
Burnley 24 38 5 9 24 -37
20
Sheffield United 16 38 3 7 28 -69

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