PREMIER LEAGUE
ETIHAD STADIUM, KICK-OFF 5.30PMHOW THEY LINE-UP: SEE PULLOUT PAGE 12STERLING’S
ON THE RISE
Guardiola backs red-hot Raheem to bang in 30
goals this season after this electrifying hat-trick
DM1ST
mirror.co.uk/sport SATURDAY 17.08.2019 DAILY MIRROR^67
Liverpool in Madrid. “How
good are they?” pondered the
Spaniard.
“My words and my opinion
on them? They are the second-
best team in Europe. For me,
that’s enough.
“Since I came here to
England, every season they
were a real contender.
“In my first season, they
finished second. In the last
two seasons, they didn’t win it,
but always they were tough,
tough games.
“I said from the first day,
when we played at White Hart
Lane and lost 2-0, about the
capacity, quality and
possibilities of this team, the
manager and the club.
“They are a strong team, a
good team.”team’s playing, no injuries. I
wouldn’t judge him if he
scored 30 goals, 35 or 20.
“When he scores goals, I’m
happy. But if he does what he
has to do for him and the
team, then it’s enough.”
City host Tottenham today,
with Guardiola hailing
Mauricio Pochettino’s side as
the “second best in Europe”
after reaching last season’s
Champions League final.
Spurs finished fourth in the
Premier League last season, 27
points behind City, losing 13
games as they fell away in the
title race.
Despite that, Guardiola said
he rates Spurs – who knocked
City out in the Champions
League quarter-finals – as the
second-best team in Europe,
after their 2-0 final defeat to(^) Mat Gls
2015-16 ....47 11
2016-17 ....47 10
2017-18 ... 46 23
2018-19 .....51 25
2019-20 ..... 2 4
STERLING’S
HAULS FOR CITY
HUGE BLOW Sane is facing
a battle back from surgery
BY DAVID McDONNELL
LEROY SANE has snubbed
Pep Guardiola’s preferred
surgeon and chosen a
different specialist.
Sane, who suffered
anterior cruciate knee
ligament damage in City’s
Community Shield win over
Liverpool, was due to have
surgery with Ramon Cugat.
Barcelona-based Cugat
has operated on several
City players, including
Benjamin Mendy and Ilkay
Gundogan, as well as
treating Vincent Kompany,
John Stones and Kevin De
Bruyne.
But Sane is instead
letting Professor Christian
Fink, based in Austria,
perform the surgery this
weekend, rather than Dr
Cugat, who has worked
with Guardiola for more
than a decade.
When asked if Sane was
having his operation in
Barcelona, Guardiola said:
“I cannot answer that
question. I don’t know.”
City later confirmed Sane
had opted for surgery by
Professor Fink, who works
with the Germany national
team.
Sane’s decision to snub
Guardiola is interesting,
given the uncertainty
around the winger’s future.
Bayern Munich want to
sign him, although his
injury’s severity scuppered
any deal this window.
Sane snub
for Pep’s
knee doc
LINE-UPS: SEE PULLOUT PAGE 12
BY DAVID McDONNELL
@DiscoMirror
PEP GUARDIOLA has
backed Raheem Sterling to
plunder 30 goals for
Manchester City this term.
Sterling began the season
with a hat-trick in champions
City’s 5-0 rout of West Ham
last weekend in their opening
Premier League fixture.
The England winger scored
25 goals for Guardiola’s side
last season, playing a key role
as the club completed a
historic domestic treble
trophy haul.
And Guardiola reckons
Sterling can reach the 30-goal
mark this season, after hailing
his “clinical” finishing in front
of goal.
Asked if the 24-year-old can
reach 30 goals this term, the
City boss said: “Yeah, hopefully.
It will be good for him and for
the team.
“When he’s in front of the
goal, he puts it in the net. So,
he can do it, yeah.
“He scored 25 last season,
and 25 to 30 is only five goals.
so he can do it.
“But I don’t know. I never
spoke with Sergio Aguero, or
Gabriel Jesus, or Raheem, with
any of the people up front,
about what are their dreams
and targets, so I don’t know,
honestly.
“I think they’re happy when
they are scoring goals, like all
the people who play in the
front line.
“So, hopefully, he can score
goals. I think goals are a
consequence of the way we
play – their mood, how the