Pep Guardiola U-turn hints at Man City plan for immediate future

Manchester City played better against Manchester United than they did against Arsenal.

It was an easier test, yet the Blues still showed more intent after taking confidence from two previous wins. Pep Guardiola credited the Brighton match after the game for stopping any doubts from entering their heads about what they could do this season.

It also doesn't take a genius to see that they looked better because they had John Stones and Rodri in the side - two world-class players capable of gracing any team in the world who were missing from the side that went down 1-0 in North London. City look more solid and more fluid when those two are allowed to work in tandem with each other to control the game.

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However, it wasn't just those two responsible for arguably City's best performance of the season. Guardiola's team selection was notable for the fact that it contained just one summer signing, Josko Gvardiol at left-back.

The only time City have had fewer this season was at Burnley on the opening weekend when the XI contained none, and at that stage Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes hadn't even walked through the door and Mateo Kovacic played the majority of the match after Kevin De Bruyne's injury. For the last two months, Guardiola has tried different combinations to integrate his new signings.

Those four may well make a place in the team their own as the season progresses and will improve with time, yet early experimenting has not been overly successful. Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes didn't work against Wolves, and leaving both Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku out