Jeremy Doku Drives Manchester City With 7 Goals and 14 Assists

Jeremy Doku has turned 7 goals and 14 assists in 42 appearances into one of Manchester City's clearest attacking advantages this season. Pep Guardiola praised the 23-year-old before the Premier League match against Brentford, with City five points clear of Arsenal and four games left in the title race.

Guardiola backs Doku

Guardiola said the winger's rise has been a manager's job as much as a player’s. “The manager always. When the player play good it is thanks to the manager. When they play bad, it is because of them,” he said, joking about Doku’s improvement while making the point that the winger has taken a real step forward.

He then went straight to the part of Doku’s game that has stood out most. “I am so glad. I am so glad that he makes this step and an impact, one on one. But not just the goals and assists, he was still pushing defensively. Jeremy has been amazing this season.”

Brentford and the title race

City go into Brentford with the table still tight at the top, even if the gap has given them room to breathe. Guardiola called Brentford “So good,” and added, “Not easy to replace Thomas Frank so an incredible season. It is clear what they do and it is difficult to challenge them but at the same time, three games left and we go for it.”

That leaves City with a simple brief: keep winning and keep pressure on Arsenal. Guardiola said, “It has been a long time since the Arsenal game. I love to play at home hopefully we can put pressure on Arsenal. Win our games and do what we have to do.” Doku’s numbers make him central to that push, because his output has come with the defensive work Guardiola singled out as part of the package.