Rayan Aït-Nouri

Ait-Nouri's game is built on forward momentum, bombing beyond the winger ahead of him to stretch the width of the pitch and give City an extra option on the overlap. He delivers a cross while still at speed rather than checking his stride, which makes his end product harder to defend even when the delivery varies. His recovery pace also means he can afford to gamble going forward, rarely being the slowest player in a race back.

The obvious cost is defensive positioning, because a full back thirty yards up the pitch when possession is lost cannot also cover the space in behind. City's system relies on a covering centre back to protect that gap, which only works if the rest of the structure holds. Watch how often his side of the pitch gets exposed on the counter, since that is the price of his forward running.