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Stones ‘absolutely loves’ partnering Dias at center-back at Man City

Ruben Dias & John Stones - Manchester City
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A strong partnership built at the heart of the defense has helped the Sky Blues maintain a watertight backline so far this season.

Ruben Dias has been able to hit the ground running at Manchester City following his £62 million move from Benfica in the summer.

Major defensive gaps were visible in the team last season, and the stability provided by the Portuguese center-back has helped fill those gaps.

The Citizens have racked up several clean sheets over the past few months with his presence in central defense and boast the best defensive record in the Premier League campaign.

However, it’d be wrong to credit Dias solely for Man City’s defensive strengths as John Stones’ recent renaissances have also vastly helped.

Stones has started in five of his side’s last six league matches and a clean sheet has been recorded in each of them.

“Yeah, I absolutely love playing with him,” Stones told the club’s official website of Dias ahead of the Premier League clash against Everton on Monday night.

“We’ve still got room to improve. Everyone has got different qualities which is great. The consistency is key and us keeping clean sheets has been massive.

“I’ve said it numerous times now but to keep those clean sheets and have that platform for the lads to go and win the game is massive and it’s our job at the end of the day.

“I was thinking the other day that its not all on us – its not all in the defenders to get the clean sheets or that when someone scores its solely on the guys who scores.”

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