Manchester City and Everton face against each other this week in a fixture that has historically churned out some unpredictable results.
Marco Silva’s side have somewhat faltered recently with a number of poor results going their opponents way, including a less than satisfactory 3-1 home defeat to Wolverhampton just the other day. And things don’t look like they’ll be improving anytime soon with Pep Guardiola’s City team arriving in Merseyside seeking three points to maintain their grasp on Liverpool.
Two players we expect to see a lot of the ball this Wednesday are İlkay Gündoğan and André Gomes. Both perform similar roles for their respective teams in the middle of the park but which one does it better?
İlkay Gündoğan
It’s no surprise that Gündoğan is extremely talented, given where he fine-tuned his talents: Borussia Dortmund. The German spent five years with the club, accumulating one domestic title, three domestic cups and some very respectable success in Europe, before moving over to the current Premier League champions.
He isn’t the most physical player, nor the fastest, he simply saunters around the pitch sprinkling a touch of technical class on almost everything he does.
There have been some questions over his consistency in the past but it’s undeniable that Gündoğan is a key player for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Grade: B+
André Gomes
André Gomes is on his second chance on loan at Everton following what could only be described as a nightmare period at FC Barcelona.
As a promising young player who had already achieved great success with Benfica in his home nation of Portugal securing the domestic treble in the 13/14 season, Gomez had the world at his feet. However, upon making a dream move to Barcelona from Valencia in 2016, things never really took off for him, and he’s now found himself on the books on Everton presumably pending a permanent transfer away from his parent club when he returns.
There’s no doubt that Gomes is talented – we can see that much from his performances so far. And despite not being the most mobile, like his Manchester City counterpart, he’s adjusted his style of play to suit, excelling in distribution and close control.
It’s a shame that things haven’t really gone to play for him at this stage in his career, and there are concerns they never might, but there’s a top quality player hidden in there somewhere.
Grade: C-
Verdict
İlkay Gündoğan gets the nod on this occasion.
The German has established himself well wherever he’s played and he’s doing a fine job of making a name for himself at Manchester City. Gomes isn’t far behind in ability; as long as he’s brought in by a coach who knows how to manage him, he’ll reach the top level soon enough.
