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Manchester City 2020-21 season predictions: Attack

By J.C. Gonzalez

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 26: Raheem Sterling of Manchester City celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 26: Raheem Sterling of Manchester City celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Aston Villa at Etihad Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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As we wrap up our positional preview for Manchester City this season, we turn toward the team’s high-scoring forwards.

For all of Manchester City’s problems last year, scoring goals was not one of them. The team broke the 100 goal mark in the Premier League once again as the league’s most prolific goalscoring team.

Heading into a crucial 2020-21 season without the defensive answers everyone around the club expected, the attack will be expected to carry even more of the load as they will be required to simply outscore some teams. This proved difficult last season, as despite the incredible number of goals on the surface, the consistency was an issue. If City were not scoring four or five, they were almost certainly falling to a 1-0 or 2-1 defeat. If they are to win the title again, they must find a way to score even when things are not firing on all cylinders, as Liverpool seemed to do nearly every week over the last season and the first match of this one against Leeds United.

Wingers

Riyad Mahrez (RW): After a stunning campaign at times last season, Mahrez is the clear first choice out wide on the right. At his peak, he is one of the Premier League’s very best, but much like City as a whole last season, it seemed like his performances were all or nothing. He was either running circles around defenses and scoring goals for fun or completely shut out of the game. That consistency will be his biggest obstacle heading into the season as the clear favorite at this position.

Ferran Torres (RW): City’s replacement for Leroy Sané has all of the tools to be just as good as the man he replaced. On international duty for Spain, Torres turned heads with some brilliant performances, and while it should be expected that Pep Guardiola will ease him into the team, he could make a quick impact. The sky is the limit for City’s only attacking signing so far this summer.

Raheem Sterling (LW): It is a highly curious start to the new season for Sterling. Objectively speaking, he had a fantastic season once again, looking like one of the Premier League’s very best. However, City’s disappointing end to last season is intrinsically tied to Sterling’s horror show miss against Lyon, which will irrevocably remain on his résumé for the rest of his career. He cannot let the doubt, whether internal or from the media and rival fans, stop him from kicking on this season.

Jayden Braaf (LW): While Braaf did not get the first-team debut we expected at the end of last season when City’s title chances had completely gone, I hope he will be involved in the first-team picture this season. To accommodate this change, I would move Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden into the permanent central midfield rotation to allow Braaf to take over as the main cover option for Sterling down the left. The 18-year old is a top talent, and Guardiola would be wise to give him his opportunity.

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Strikers

Sergio Agüero (ST): Age is catching up to City’s best-ever player, and much like how last season was David Silva’s farewell tour and Vincent Kompany’s the season prior, this could be Agüero’s final act in sky blue. Whether or not he continues past this season, however, the bulk of the goalscoring will once again be placed on the Argentinian’s shoulders, who just returned to training and is a doubt for City’s Premier League opener against Wolves.

Gabriel Jesus (ST): This will be Jesus’ make-or-break season. He showed moments of brilliance last year in Agüero’s absence, but will need to prove himself to convince City not to sign a highly-touted replacement such as Erling Haaland or Lautaro Martínez next summer. With Agüero aging and injured, Jesus’ deputy role will be more impactful on the team’s success than ever before, and he will need to be clinical in front of goal, his main weakness in recent seasons.