Man City will soon discover how hard life is going to be without Ilkay Gundogan

Coping without Gundogan

When you've reached the pinnacle the only way is down and Manchester City have a task at hand to make sure they don't slip from their lofty perch. But the undeniable fact is that at the moment with three weeks of the window left, Pep Guardiola's squad is weaker than it was when it won the Champions League final.

Losing Ilkay Gundogan is a massive blow. He is playing the best football of his career, captained the side to the treble and played an integral role in winning all three. Mateo Kovacic has been brought in replenish the midfield stock and looks likely to start against Burnley but City themselves don't see him as a direct replacement after trying to bring in another signing in the form of Declan Rice.

That failed and there has been no further attempts to sign another midfielder. So the burden has been placed on Kovacic to replace one of City's most important players, one who was so crucial to making the team tick. The Croatian is cut from a similar cloth and is just as capable of slaloming up the field and being aggressive to win the ball back.

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But the difference is he is nowhere near as incisive in his decision-making once he gets into dangerous positions, whereas Gundogan always had the instinct for a killer pass and an eye for goal. The German did have the advantage of playing under Guardiola for seven years so that decision-making might come into Kovacic's game yet but it might take longer than expected for City to adjust to life without Gundogan.

Gvardiol debut

City fans will no doubt be excited to see the club's brand-new centre-back in action. The Blues have been chasing Josko Gvardiol all summer