Josko Gvardiol is going from strength to strength this season after he scored in Manchester City’s 2-1 win against Wolves on Sunday.
Gvardiol’s equalising goal was a thing of beauty as he walloped the ball into the top corner from outside the box — demonstrating once again why his weaker right foot is well and truly special.
The Manchester City centre-back has scored both of his league goals with his weak foot — doing so against Newcastle United as well.
Jack Grealish raved about Gvardiol’s goal against Wolves alongside the likes of Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake.
Now, Gvardiol has as many away Premier League goals as Mohamed Salah (five) in 2024.
It would be fair to claim that Gvardiol is one of the most in-form players in the Premier League so far.
Josko Gvardiol had more final third passes than any Premier League star vs Wolves and Fulham
Pep Guardiola would be delighted with the form that the 22-year-old is in.
The Croatian international’s goal was a crucial one as City were finding it hard to break Wolves’ low block down.
As per Squawka, Gvardiol registered more passes in the final third (78) against Gary O’Neil’s side than any player in the Premier League this weekend.
In the top 10, the other eight players were Manchester City players — Dias (66), Savinho (40), Ilkay Gundogan (39), Mateo Kovacic (38), Jeremy Doku (34), John Stones (34), Rico Lewis (30) and Bernardo Silva (24).
James Maddison ranked in tenth plays with 22 final third passes in Tottenham Hotspur’s emphatic 4-1 win against West Ham United.
Gvardiol registered more final third passes than any Premier League player (32) in Manchester City’s 3-2 win against Fulham as well.
In successive Premier League weekends, the youngster has topped this metric.
Kyle Walker once said “Rolls-Royce” Gvardiol is so good on the ball
The statistics seems to prove time and again that the former RB Leipzig defender is sublime with the ball at his feet.
Whether it comes to the Premier League champion’s passing or his shooting, he seems to have mastered these aspects of his game.
Kyle Walker heaped praise on Gvardiol’s ball-playing ability during his early days at Manchester City.
“Josko [Gvardiol] is a Rolls-Royce of a centre-back and the age that he’s at and the quality he shows on the ball, with the manager, I feel the world’s his oyster basically.”
Gvardiol will be hoping to continue improving this facet of his game, especially when he starts playing as a centre-back for City.
Nowadays, central defenders are tasked with being elite distributors in possession; a quality that the City mainstay will have to display once he starts playing in his natural position more regularly at club level.
But there seem to be no signs that suggest that Gvardiol cannot do so and that too seamlessly.
