Fans have responded to Manchester City’s decision to start without Kevin De Bruyne for their Premier League home game against Brentford on Tuesday (February 20).
Pep Guardiola’s team is coming off a dismal 1-1 home loss with Chelsea over the weekend, which ended their 11-game winning run in all competitions. The draw left them four points behind leaders Liverpool (57) in third place, with a game in hand.
A victory would move the reigning three-time champions ahead of second-placed Arsenal (55) and within one point of the Reds.
Meanwhile, De Bruyne, returning from a lengthy injury layoff, played the whole 90 minutes against the Blues but will start on the bench against Brentford at the Etihad. Fans believe Guardiola has given up on the Premier League, as one tweets:
“Pep is not willing to compete for EPL”
One more person added:
“This a joke””
X has garnered the following popular responses:
Your City team for #MCIBRE 👊
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 20, 2024
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Dias, Akanji, Rodrigo, Bernardo, Foden, Alvarez, Bobb, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Ake, Kovacic, Doku, De Bruyne, Gomez, Nunes, Lewis#ManCity | @etihad pic.twitter.com/okOv4GcCSj
There’s no way we actually benched KDB ffs lads
— Real Talk Manchester City (@RealTalkMCFC) February 20, 2024
Pep is not willing to compete for EPL
— Ọmọọba Adélẹyẹ Tolu 🤴 👑 (@DoublePrince001) February 20, 2024
De Bruyne on the bench?
— Nicholas 🇬🇧🇳🇬 (@ezele_nick) February 20, 2024
Pep strikes again!!
KDB on the bench??
— Clóvis Carvalho (@carvalho_cc) February 20, 2024
I this a joke?
— Joey0 (@Joey27i) February 20, 2024
KDB on the bench 🤦
— Sunny (@Akpochimara1) February 20, 2024
City has nine league games without a loss since a 1-0 loss at Aston Villa in December. They have amassed 53 points from 24 games.
How has this season's Manchester City player Kevin De Bruyne performed?
The gem in the crown of Manchester City’s talented roster is Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian playmaker has missed 27 games in all competitions after suffering a hamstring injury at the beginning of the season.
The 32-year-old has two goals and eight assists in 10 appearances across competitions after making a comeback to the starting lineup in the FA Cup third-round victory against Huddersfield Town, when he also contributed an assist.
The Belgian scored his first goal of the year during last month’s 3-2 league victory against Newcastle United. After that, he helped out in his next three league games until going blank against Chelsea.
However, before to the match with the Blues, De Bruyne had a strong performance during the midweek. In the 3-1 victory against FC Copenhagen in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, he contributed to two goals and scored one himself.