Raheem Sterling vs Jack Grealish rivalry could give Man City a Treble boost

Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish have a friendly rivalry going that could boost Manchester City’s pursuit of three trophies this season. The intense competition for places between the two Blues was accentuated during England’s 3-0 friendly win over Ivory Coast at Wembley in midweek, when Sterling capped a man-of-the-match performance by assisting Ollie Watkins for the opening goal and then bagging the second by converting Grealish’s superb half-volleyed set-up.

They have been fighting over the left-sided berth in the City team all season, with Phil Foden also thrown into that mix, but now usually shifted into a central role to accommodate either Sterling or Grealish in the team. That scrap has now translated into a similar fight to be first-choice in Gareth Southgate’s national team.

Bizarrely, Sterling seems to have the upper hand when wearing the Three Lions and Grealish has an edge in City blue. The stats point overwhelmingly towards Sterling, who has 14 goals and four assists this season, compared to Grealish’s four goals and three assists.

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Guardiola pays scant regard to stats, and has already told Grealish he needs to stop obsessing over the figures - he is more interested in his overall contribution to the team, with which he is more than happy. But Grealish, like many players, wants hard numbers to back up the evidence of the eyes, and that probably fuelled what seems to have been a half-joking, half-pointed remark to the TV cameras when asked about teeing up Sterling for his goal, a moment after Sterling had ignored his clubmate - in a far better position - in order to take a shot in the first place.

“I said to Raz, ‘Any chance of you passing to me before?’. I