Bernardo Silva's goals have dried up but Man City influence - and Pep Guardiola trust - remains

Manchester City’s Portuguese maestro Bernardo Silva once again proved his importance in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. The 27-year-old has been a revelation in a central midfield role this season and against Liverpool ranked first for tackles won (5) and dribbles completed (3) by any player on the pitch, while also creating two chances for his teammates.

While this type of all-action display is impressive, the Portuguese midfielder’s goalscoring exploits have seemingly dried up since the turn of the year. Kevin De Bruyne’s injury earlier in the season saw Guardiola deploy Bernardo and Ilkay Gundogan on either side of Rodri in midfield, and the City no.20 took over De Bruyne’s mantle as a goalscoring midfielder.

Bernardo experienced something of a purple patch, scoring six goals in just eight Premier League fixtures, the most notable being a sublime volley in City’s 2-1 away win at Aston Villa. In the Premier League this season, Bernardo has scored seven times and recorded three assists, with all seven goals coming before Christmas.

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In fact, the last time the Portuguese midfielder scored was his brace in a strong 3-1 away victory at Norwich back in December. But despite Bernardo’s lack of goals, his influence is still pivotal to City’s form, and Guardiola’s trust in him is apparent. Since the turn of the year, Bernardo has started 14 matches out of 18 in all competitions, and across the entire Premier League season to date City have only lost once when he has started in the middle of the park.

Such is his importance, Bernardo has almost equalled the number of minutes he played last season already, as City continue to