Fernandinho red card for Manchester City vs. Burnley will hurt the Citizens badly going forward

Fernandinho was sent off for the third time in six matches on Monday, leaving Manchester City with a huge problem going forward. Now they’ll have to play four more matches without one of their few competent central players.

The worst part about this red card was how completely unnecessary it was. There’s limited danger for the Citizens on this Burnley attack and Fernandinho appeared to have plenty of time to make a decision on how to challenge for the ball. His decision to launch himself into a high, two-footed tackle is inexplicable.

The City midfield was already paper thin before Ilkay Gündogan suffered a knee injury that will likely take him out for the rest of the season. While Fernandinho is a solid player, Fernando is clearly not good enough to be in the City squad, and Yaya Touré is no longer useful defensively. Now, they won’t even have Fernandinho for their Premier League matches against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, as well as an FA Cup game against the Hammers.

City’s defense has been asked to bear the brunt of criticism for the team’s average form this season, but they haven’t been helped by the midfield in front of them. Pep Guardiola and City director of football Txiki Begiristain failed to adequately strengthen their midfield this summer, leading to their back line getting isolated in tons of space against opposing attackers on a regular basis. That midfield is about to get a little bit worse.

Guardiola’s options in defensive midfield over the next four games look terrible. They are:

City is already 10 points off the top; their loss to Liverpool effectively eliminated them from serious title contention. They’re now involved in an extremely difficult top-four race. Every point counts, and they’ll have a hard time not dropping any while playing without Fernandinho, the only player they have no adequate replacement for.