Man City dream pairing is back as Aymeric Laporte seeks Crystal Palace redemption

They were meant to be a Manchester City centre back pairing made in heaven. They were even born just one day apart, and the right-footed John Stones and left-footed Aymeric Laporte could have been moulded by Pep Guardiola himself - both elegant and incisive with the ball, their attacking abilities far outweighing the minor defensive wrinkles in their games.

But it did not happen, with Stones suffering a crisis of confidence, troubled by injuries and personal problems that at one point saw him become the Blues’ fifth choice in the position. Laporte was pole-axed by a knee injury that badly affected City ’s momentum when they lost the Premier League title to Liverpool on 2019-20.

That blow, and Stones’ troubles, led to the Blues going out to capture Ruben Dias that summer, and in his debut season he gave City back what they had not had since Vincent Kompany departed - a rock in defence. Laporte and Dias were Guardiola ’s go-to pairing until the Spain international bore the brunt of the manager’s ire after City were undone by Harry Kane in a 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane last season. The way Stones seized his opportunity and became a key man as the Blues regained the title was one of the stories of last season.

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Laporte was troubled enough to make noises about leaving, but he has also reclaimed his place after Stones was again bothered by injury after initially feeling the hangover from England’s run to the Euro 2020 final. This season Laporte and Dias have been the preferred choice in 19 of the 28 games played so far, City winning 15 and drawing two of them.

Laporte suffered another meltdown the last time the Blues played Crystal Palace, being mugged by Wilfried Zaha