Ilkay Gundogan can give Man City and Pep Guardiola need after Liverpool defeat

There was a point where everyone thought Ilkay Gundogan would not be a Manchester City player this season.

His contract expires next May and there was a line of thinking that the German fancied a fresh challenge to see out his glorious playing days. However, one wedding and a title-winning brace later, Pep Guardiola's first signing is still fighting to win even more silverware in Sky Blue.

Gundogan's influence on City cannot be understated. The midfielder is not always the one to steal the limelight - that's saved for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva - but just one goal away from 50 in East Manchester highlights his pivotal role in the club's success under Guardiola.

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Even removing his heroics against Aston Villa on the final day of last season, Gundogan has popped up in the biggest moments to power his team to glory. In 2020/21, without the presence of a recognised striker, the midfielder scored a career-best 13 Premier League goals from midfield - two of them in City's first win at Anfield since 2003.

City missed Gundogan's presence on Saturday against the same opposition, and it's probably a timely reminder to Guardiola of his importance.

The Catalan boss did have reasons to leave him out. Gundogan - alongside John Stones and Phil Foden - were unable to travel with the squad on their short pre-season tour of the US and missed a large chunk of senior football as a consequence.

The trio did join the EDS side in Croatia, but throwing any of them back in to the mix from the start against Liverpool would have been a baptism of fire. He did, however, make a brief 17-minute cameo from the bench, but there wasn't