Any Manchester United analysts tuning in to Manchester City's FA Cup tie with Peterborough would probably have been better off focusing on pancakes for the evening.
Even accounting for the chaos that has reigned at Old Trafford this season, you would like to think that they would already be aware that defenders need to close their legs when Riyad Mahrez gets the ball and that Phil Foden will make you pay if you give him room and time on the ball.
Those two were the exception for City on Tuesday evening, making things look easy as the white shirts around them huffed and puffed without success. Anyone watching could safely conclude that the Blues would be much improved at the weekend, not least because they would have a better XI on the pitch.
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Pep Guardiola views these games as crucial to his pursuit of multiple trophies because they allow him more chance to keep his squad happy, and it wasn't just the sight of Fernandinho in the line-up that did this.
Gabriel Jesus and Jack Grealish were both given their first runs out after recent injuries, and it showed in a toothless first-half display that saw City get none of their nine shots on target from their mammoth 77 per cent possession. Think of the opposite of City's display in Lisbon and it was pretty close.
That shouldn't be unexpected from a No.9 who has decided he would rather not play up front, and a No.10 who is yet to be as greedy as City coaches want him to be and who has admitted he has not got the goals he should have done since switching from Aston Villa in the summer.
There were positive signs from Grealish, particularly after he scored the first goal, yet that should not change the immediate plans. It should be taken as read that it would be a major surprise if either Grealish or Jesus manage to keep out the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva when United rock up on Sunday.
Guardiola spoke before the game of how he has mellowed in his age and now rarely shouts at the players in the dressing room after matches if they have underperformed, although he can't have been thrilled with this: a night for City to accept the win and move on in hope of a better performance.
Crucial to their success in three competitions this season will be how clinical they can be in front of goal (without a striker, lest we forget). They may not reach the extreme highs they managed against Sporting recently, but their attacking play will have to be much better than it was in Peterborough - starting on Sunday against United.
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