‘There downfall start now’: Guardiola hints at Man City change that hands Arsenal Premier League title hope
Pep Guardiola has hinted at making a major change to his Manchester City team that may affect this season’s Premier League title race. The reigning champions regained their spot at the top after beating West Ham this past Wednesday, 24 hours after Arsenal secured their first win four against London rivals Chelsea.
With the final month of the 2022/23 season upon us, the Gunners have just four games left to try and upset City’s recent domestic dominance. Meanwhile, Guardiola’s side still have an extra game to play over their title rivals while also being a point above them in the league table.
Alongside wanting to retain their Premier League crown, City have also qualified for the FA Cup final and in May will face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final. The first leg is set to be played in Spain on Tuesday, May 9 with the return leg at Etihad Stadium the following week.
With a European triumph in mind, the one thing that has alluded Guardiola at City, rotation changes this weekend for their clash against Leeds United are expected. Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, with the latter back in training after missing the last two through injury, could both be set for a place on the bench or limited minutes with Guardiola focused on the Madrid fixture three days later.
Some rotational changes also took place in the mid-week game against West Ham with Stefan Ortega preferred to Ederson in goal. The Brazilian was the only City player to have started every Premier League this season but that is no longer the case and another spot on the bench this weekend is certainly possible.
When asked if Ederson will start against Leeds on Saturday, Guardiola responded: “He is ready to play like he was against West Ham. Tomorrow we’ll decide.”
Many assumed, given the hectic schedule still to come, Ortega was brought in to hand Ederson a rest but, judging by Guardiola’s comments, his omission was not because of fatigue and the German could retain the gloves this weekend. Despite his expert distribution, Ederson has come under fire for some of his performances in this campaign with mistakes playing out from the back sometimes leading to goals against City.
A major change, such as making Ortega the first-choice ‘keeper over Ederson, this late into the run-in could prove to be costly for Guardiola. In cup action, Ortega has proven to be an excellent back-up option, but he doesn’t quite yet have the same pedigree as Ederson and leaving the 29-year-old out could hand Arsenal some hope of getting back in control of the title race.
