Man City talisman Kevin De Bruyne is peaking at the perfect time ahead of Real Madrid visit

De Bruyne peaking at the right time

It was a slight surprise to see Kevin De Bruyne in the starting line-up for Manchester City vs Watford with Real Madrid up next, but it's hard to drop a player in form. He was brilliant against Brighton and followed that up with a wonderful performance vs Watford, who couldn't cope with those Yaya-esque runs through midfield.

His assist for Gabriel Jesus' second was sublime, and the awareness for the Brazilian's fourth was brilliant in its simplicity. That's four goals and four assists in his last six Premier League appearances. He's a player coming into his best form just at the right time of the season, and the fact he was replaced on 55 minutes indicates he will have a big role to play against Real Madrid. When he's playing like this, he's the best in the world.

Five starters confirmed for Real?

It could be significant that Bernardo Silva was on the bench against Watford, with Real Madrid up next. Pep Guardiola couldn't do much rotation with the defence, but he gave Bernardo and Ilkay Gundogan a rest ahead of De Bruyne. It's probably fair to assume those two will start on Tuesday, and it would be a huge surprise to see De Bruyne not in that line-up too after his early substitution.

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Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez were also among the substitutes, so could also be rested ahead of the visit of the current Spanish leaders. They will need as much energy going forward as possible to account for potential absences in defence.

No sign of nerves

In his programme notes, Guardiola credited the fans for their role in backing the team vs Brighton when it took 50 minutes against a stubborn defence to open the scoring. Even then,