Pep Guardiola's woes continue to worsen as the champions have lost their fourth Premier League match in a row, marking the worst runs of Pep's managerial career since it began in 2008. However, how much of a concern is this really for City fans?
A lot of fans have put this run of form, which is the worst in Pep's eight year tenure with the club, down to injuries. Throughout the opening 13 games of the 2024/2025 Premier League campaign, they have been without the likes of Jack Grealish, Kevin de Bruyne, Rodri, Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji due to various injuries.
In addition to that and probably the biggest hole in this team, is their anchor in the middle of the fuel in Ballon d'Or winner Rodri who is out for the rest of the season.
However, Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovacic and Rodri are currently the only players sidelined with injuries in the City squad.
With them being the only injuries currently in the squad, Liverpool still comfortably disposed of the eight-time Premier League champions.
Liverpool had an XG of 3.52 compared to Manchester City's 0.8. This stat shows that there are worries for Manchester City in both their attack as well as their defensive efforts as they were conceding quality chances time and time again whilst not being able to threaten the Reds' defence.
Despite this, fans could argue that players were being eased back into playing, which would be true as Grealish and De Bruyne were only used as substitutes in this game.
While this may be the case for the Liverpool game, it does not excuse their late collapse earlier in the week against Feyenoord in the Champions League.
Manchester City were flying in this game, going 3-0 up early in the second half. However, Manchester City still did not come away with three points as Feyenoord scored three goals in the final 20 minutes of the League Phase game, pegging City back in disappointing fashion for the 2023 European Champions.
Manchester City's current slump can be seen as worrying as they have lost matches in disappointing fashion including an emphatic 4-0 loss at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
However, with key parts to both the attack and the defence coming back for Manchester City, their woes could be answered on whether teams have finally cracked the code on City's dominance or if injuries have really been the anchor of this slump through November.
Comments