Manchester City missed a young midfielder against Forest which speaks volumes about his importance to City

Nico O’Reilly missed Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium due to an ankle injury. The impressive young midfielder suffered an ankle injury during the second half of Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Leeds last weekend at Elland Road. As Manchester City drew with Nottingham Forest in a crucial Premier League match on Wednesday night, you could see just how much they missed Nico O’Reilly’s physical presence and technical ability in midfield. It was clear to see at the Etihad just how important Nico O’Reilly has become to Pep Guardiola’s side, which is a credit to the young midfielder.

Manchester City sorely Nico O’Reilly’s physical attributes against Nottingham Forest.

Nico O’Reilly was replaced by Phil Foden in the starting lineup for Manchester City’s draw with Nottingham Forest. Foden is a completely different type of player from O’Reilly. The physical attributes of Foden are nowhere near those of O’Reilly. Foden is a smaller, technical player, while O’Reilly is also blessed with excellent technical ability; he is also bigger and stronger than Foden. O’Reilly covers the pitch better than Foden, and his size and strength in duels are a key asset of his play. Manchester City missed this side of Nico O’Reilly’s game against Nottingham Forest.

The Manchester City midfield wasn’t bossed by the Nottingham Forest midfield on Wednesday night. Far from it. But at key moments, Nottingham Forest midfielders Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Nicolas Dominguez, and Ibrahim Sangaré did win their share of duels. This gave Forest the platform to counter. Nico O’Reilly’s ability to get up and down the pitch and win his physical duels was missed by Manchester City. Nico O’Reilly is also a threat going forward, and that was also missed on occasions at the Etihad.

An aspect that stood out on closer inspection after Manchester City’s draw with Nottingham Forest is how much Nico O’Reilly’s presence was missed in the City midfield. That is the ultimate compliment for a 20-year-old midfielder. It did stand out against Forest just how much City missed the England international and what he adds to the City midfield.

Hopefully Nico O’Reilly is back sooner rather than later as the stakes rise in the coming weeks.

It is hoped that Nico O’Reilly can return from the ankle injury he suffered against Leeds sooner rather than later. Speaking before Manchester City’s draw with Nottingham Forest, in quotes relayed by Chris Davie for Metro.co.uk, Pep Guardiola had this to say on Nico O’Reilly’s condition: “Yesterday we had a training session, he then felt uncomfortable from the knock he got against Leeds. Hopefully he can come back but at the same time it’s happened, in this part of the season everybody is massively important for our experience in the periods where we fight for competitions, everyone is massively important.”

Nico O’Reilly’s presence was missed in midfield by Manchester City against Nottingham Forest. Manchester City’s midfield wasn’t dominated by any stretch, but there was no doubt that City felt Nico O’Reilly’s absence at the Etihad. This season may well be looked back upon as the season where Nico O’Reilly rose to prominence, and Wednesday night’s match showed just how important O’Reilly is to City when he was unavailable to play.