clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Is Joao Cancelo undroppable for Manchester City?

The full back has excelled in recent matches

Manchester City Press Conference and Training Session Photo by Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images

Back before the start of the season, most Manchester City fans would say Kyle Walker and Aymeric Laporte were the undroppable defensive players, but that has now changed.

Manchester City v Lyon - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Photo by UEFA - Handout/UEFA via Getty Images

Laporte has not been starting regularly since the signing of Ruben Dias and the come-back story of John Stones. With Walker out due to his positive coronavirus test, Cancelo has had to play as a right-back in his absence.

Manchester City v Newcastle United - Premier League Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

In the 2-0 win at the weekend against Newcastle, Cancelo was easily Man of the Match and was constantly helping the attack and pushing up the field confidently down the right-hand side.

It was Cancelo’s superb ball to Raheem Sterling that led to Ilkay Gundogan opening the scoring for City and Cancelo also provided the cross for Ferran Torres for the Blues second goal.

Manchester City v Newcastle United - Premier League Photo by Matt McNulty - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images

Pep Guardiola said after the Newcastle match “He’s a player with a special quality in the final third”. This is unlike Benjamin Mendy, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kyle Walker who are more traditional full-backs.

Southampton v Manchester City - Premier League Photo by Paul Childs - Pool/Getty Images

With two big games against Everton and Chelsea within the next week, surely with what Cancelo has shown he has to start in both.