Analysis: Doku adding end product to match dribbling skills

Football writer Adrian Clarke identifies the key players, team tactics and where matches could be won and lost in Matchweek 7.

Player analysis: Jeremy Doku (Manchester City)

Doku’s power, strength and skill mark him down as a very special, distinctive talent and Brentford will have to be alert to his threat when they welcome Man City on Sunday.

Magical and frustrating in equal measure though, the Belgian’s first two seasons with Man City have been a mixed bag.

However, in 2025/26, the 23-year-old is showing signs that he is on a pathway to more consistent success.

A growing influence

Finding a level of end product that matches the excitement he brings with the ball at his feet has been Doku’s biggest challenge at City.

Always dynamic in his dribbling yet failing to translate that into consistent goal involvements, he is perceived by many as a player who flatters to deceive.

Yet the trust in him is visibly growing.

There is a sense that Doku is maturing in front of our eyes, after starting five matches in a row in all competitions, scoring once and making three assists.

His manager Pep Guardiola certainly thinks so.

On the back of an exhilarating individual display in last weekend’s 5-1 win at home to Burnley, the Spaniard was effusive in his praise.

“I ask the wingers in the final third to go one v one or one v two and I have the feeling that Jeremy’s decision making in the final third improved, like, wow!” Guardiola said.

“He’s an incredible threat against teams that are a low block and deep. Jeremy is really important. When the team is transitional, maybe he can struggle a bit, but he had the ball and brought the opponent to the box.

“They don’t allow him to go one v one because he’s unstoppable. There is no winger over 5-10 metres stronger than Jeremy – he can go left or right.

“Now he is reading when the opponents go two or three, who the other man is to be free to create a cross or an extra pass. He improved a lot.”

Doku's dribbles v Burnley

Can Brentford contain Doku?

This weekend’s opponents Brentford will have to devise a strategy to contain Doku, who was scintillating against Burnley in his last Premier League match.

Producing eight successful dribbles from 14 attempts, Doku enjoyed an astonishing 22 touches inside the opposition box.

Doku was a major handful as he dipped both ways with the ball, creating three chances, and having three shots himself.

On the left side of the area he was ultra-positive, using his unique blend of skill, pace and brute force to drive past right-back Kyle Walker and a series of other Burnley defenders.

Brentford right-back Michael Kayode will absolutely need support around him to crowd Doku’s space on Sunday.

Doku is now playing with his head up more often, we saw that against Burnley with his only official assist of the match, despite being involved in three of the goals.

A mesmeric run down the flank ended with Doku cutting inside to pick out a crisp pass to Erling Haaland, who finished with aplomb.

In Premier League terms no one is averaging more successful dribbles than Doku, who is currently producing 4.3 per 90 minutes.

Most successful dribbles per 90 25/26

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The definition of “ball carries” (taking the ball five metres or more) differs from “dribbles” (an attempt to beat a defender) and in this department Doku is virtually in a league of his own.

His ball carries of a progressive nature (towards the opposition goal) mark him out as the division’s clear leader, Everton’s Jack Grealish is the only individual who comes close.

Midfielders with most progressive carries 25/26

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Yet Grealish is still over 200 metres behind Doku for progressive distance covered with the ball at his feet.

Furthest progressive distance carried (m) 25/26

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Is his productivity statistically better?

In all competitions this season, Doku is actually carrying the ball less, making fewer attempted dribbles, and even has a lower success rate with them than he did in 2024/25.

Yet tellingly, he is also creating a greater number of chances for City in open play.

Doku's dribble stats last two seasons in all competitions

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So, Guardiola’s assessment that his winger’s decision making in key moments has improved feels entirely justified.

No one dribbles more frequently than Doku, so we should not read too much into the marginal drop-off, but the choices he makes on the ball, and the quality of passes he is making, have gone up a level.

His 12 open-play chances created in the 2025/26 Premier League rank him 5th.

In a sport that is increasingly focused on marginal gains, Doku is proving to Guardiola that he does have what it takes to develop his output.

The percentage of Doku’s ball carries that end with a chance being created for City have risen from 3.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent.

Doku's ball carry stats last two seasons in all competitions

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That may not seem an especially high figure, but it is heading in the right direction.

Doku and Guardiola have tangible evidence that the former's ball-carrying brilliance contains an increasing amount of substance.

Doku's cutback assist for Phil Foden, and lovely slip pass for Haaland in the Manchester derby also showed he can deliver in the biggest matches too.

Watch: Doku's assist for Foden v Man Utd

Can Doku inspire Pep to landmark win?

Doku feels a near certainty to make the starting XI this Sunday, given how well he is performing, and the likelihood that Keith Andrews’ Brentford will adopt a low defensive block.

Brentford showed how effectively they can turn defence into attack by scoring from long Jordan Henderson passes against both Chelsea and Manchester United.

And with City occasionally vulnerable to those long balls on transitions, it is a tactic they will be targeted with on the day.

Yet they will see this contest as one where they must make best use of their own heavy possession, and Doku will be their go-to creator down the wing.

A win for Guardiola would take him to 250 victories as a Premier League manager, in just his 349th game in charge.

That would see him reach that milestone 74 matches quicker than anyone else has managed with a single club, beating Arsene Wenger’s 423.

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