It is hard to deny the advantages that Manchester City carry into the second leg of the EFL Cup semifinals – a two-goal lead is a healthy cushion to take into Wednesday’s match against Newcastle United, and playing at home can’t hurt. City, though, have more than clichés about 2-0 leads to worry about with a cup final within touching distance. Few things seem to be going right for Pep Guardiola’s side these days, victory on Wednesday no sure thing for a team that was once the definition of utter dominance.
The skid that essentially began with a weeks-long losing streak in the fall of 2024 has not exactly dissipated in the year-plus since, despite City’s attempts to change things up. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on transfer fees and some stylistic changes from Guardiola have not stopped the bleeding just yet, victories slipping out of reach in surprising ways. Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Tottenham Hotspur, a game in which they boasted a 2-0 lead at halftime, leaves them with just four wins in their last 10 and a wide range of questions as to why this keeps happening, questions Guardiola does not exactly have answers to.
The weirdest thing about City’s slump is that it is hard to explain at times, in part because the reimagining of the squad makes sense in a lot of ways. A handful of the players they have signed in the last year address genuine issues like Marc Guehi, the ex-Crystal Palace defender who should help shore up a vulnerable defense. The headlining acts of City’s refreshed roster, though, are in attack – summer addition Rayan Cherki and January signing Antonie Semenyo, each of whom have quickly become dependable during an unexpected rough patch.
How to watch Manchester City vs. Newcastle United, odds
- Date: Wednesday, Feb. 4 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
- Location: Etihad Stadium — Manchester, England
- Live stream: Paramount+
- Odds: Manchester City -135; Draw +285; Newcastle United +310
City are still the Premier League’s best attacking side but their offense is overly reliant on Erling Haaland, who runs hot and cold like many strikers do. He still has 20 goals in the league but has just two across all competitions in his last 11, It is not exactly down to a lack of productivity on City’s part – the team’s expected goals per game average has slipped during Haaland’s cold streak to 1.6, but only slightly from their overall season average of 1.8, and they score at roughly the same frequency they always have. Haaland himself, though, is more absent than he was at the start of the season – he has averaged 0.4 expected goals per game in his last 11, down from his season average of 0.7.
Cherki and Semenyo have done their best to fill in the gaps, alongside academy product Phil Foden and another summer signing in Tijjani Reijnders. The quartet have jointly scored 29 goals across all competitions – just two more as a group than Haaland on his own, a reminder that an overreliance on a player of his caliber sometimes papers over the cracks. Cherki, Reijnders and Semenyo have picked up the slack during Haaland’s cold streak. France international Cherki has quickly become the star of City’s show with five goals and three assists in the team’s last 11 games, filling in as a dependable goalscorer when Haaland cannot and ensuring his first season with City is off to a strong start despite being sidelined with an injury at the beginning of the season. Semenyo, too, has hit the ground running since joining last month with four goals and one assist to start his City tenure.
“I think it stems from the players,” Semenyo told CBS Sports Golazo Network’s Morning Footy this week. “The players made me feel very comfortable. They helped me make it feel easier for myself and then you’ve obviously got the coaches, as well. They’re guiding me every day, giving me little tips on improving my game and obviously getting used to the system but it’s been very, very easy. Everyone’s made it very easy for me to settle in and you have to learn on the go. I mean, I’ve had to do that practically all my life – my football career, I should say so it’s not anything new to me.”
That includes Haaland, even if he joked upon Semenyo’s arrival that the ex-Bournemouth player was “coming for my golden boot.” The newcomer said his new teammate has been very welcoming, even as a sense of friendly competition begins to define their relationship.
“He’s made me feel so comfortable,” Semenyo said. “He’s a loud character in the changing room, very vocal but he’s made me feel the most comfortable, I should say, from day one. Before that clip even came out, he was just saying, ‘It’s great to have you here’ … [We’ll] compete for top goalscorer as well so it’s nice, friendly competition but I’m glad he’s my teammate.”
Even as things go sideways for City in the Premier League, Semenyo is quickly proving his worth while he and Cherki add much-needed dimension to an attack that is sometimes one-note when Haaland does all the work. It is not exactly a foolproof strategy to survive Haaland’s slump – they have gone goalless twice in their last 11, their 2-0 loss to Manchester United the most clear example of the Norway international’s oversized presence in City’s attack.
The pair, though, ensure City have a chance in most of their outings, with or without Haaland. Defensive resilience – or a lack thereof – is emerging as the next major area of improvement for Guardiola’s side, Guehi merely one step in addressing an issue exacerbated by a batch of injuries. Newcastle will like their chances against a vulnerable City, who are undoubtedly in a funk but in Semenyo and Cherki have the type the players to snap out of this run, at least in the short term.
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