To finish up our review of the Manchester City squad across the 2019-20 season, we turn to the forwards following another elite goal-scoring campaign.
Manchester City may have had a host of issues across the 2019/20 season that saw them lose their Premier League crown for the first time in three seasons, but scoring goals was not one of them. City once again broke the 100 goal barrier in the Premier League, scoring 17 more than runaway champions Liverpool and nearly four times as many as Norwich, who finished bottom of the league. City’s world-class attack was one of the big reasons for that, and the forward line was once again on point, but were let down by other areas of the team.
These ratings, like match ratings, are out of 10, but rather than a single performance, are based on the player’s performance this season given their stature and expectations. Therefore, a higher rating does not necessarily mean that one player was better than another, but rather, that they delivered on expectations to a higher degree.
Wingers
Bernardo Silva (RW): A really difficult campaign for City’s defending Player of the Season. The end product and magic of 2018/19 simply was not there, and although his bulldog mentality and work rate never dropped off, he had lost his place in the team for much of the season. Hopefully he will recover the form that saw him become a dark horse Ballon D’Or candidate a year ago. (5.5)
Riyad Mahrez (RW): On the other hand, Riyad Mahrez was simply electric in what was a breakout campaign. Although consistency ultimately proved an issue, at his best he was simply dazzling his way around defenders, creating chances and scoring goals. Overall, the Algerian was one of City’s best players this season. (8)
Raheem Sterling (LW): His horrific miss against Lyon will unfairly leave a bad taste in the mouth of supporters when thinking about Sterling’s season as a whole, as he was fantastic once again. The numbers speak for themselves; 31 goals and 10 assists across 52 appearances in all competitions, including his first 20-goal league campaign, are stats a star striker would be proud of, and he is continuing to improve each year. (8.5)
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Strikers
Sergio Agüero (ST): The Argentinian did what he does best: score goals. At 32 years of age, he has shown few if any signs of regression, and bagged 23 goals in all competitions. The key to that stat, however, is the number of appearances, which was just 32. City’s talisman was injured at the worst possible moment during the heat of the Champions League knockouts, and could not beat the clock to make it back in time. (8)
Gabriel Jesus (ST): He has definitely had his ups and downs in the sky blue shirt, and perhaps never more visibly than this season. Despite constant rumors of another striker coming in and questions of whether or not he could lead the line for this team in the post-Agüero era, Jesus answered the call in the key moments with massive performances in both Real Madrid games and was excellent following the restart. (7.5)