It’s another week and another Manchester City defeat.
Liverpool fans have missed that during the international break but it looks like Pep Guardiola’s embarrassing trend is set to continue.
He lost four games in a row for the first time before the international break and he’s now lost five in a row after tasting defeat to Tottenham.
And not just any kind of defeat but another utter humiliating defeat where City were completely outplayed and outperformed.
It’s quite the remarkable downfall considering this is a team that looked impenetrable a few weeks ago.
Now Liverpool could have the chance to go 11 points clear of them if they beat Guardiola’s side next week, and Southampton this week of course.
But it’s a downfall that was pre-emptively brought by City themselves.
How Man City pre-empted their own downfall
Back towards the end of October Manchester City’s official website boasted about their incredible home record having gone 34 games without defeat at the Etihad since November 2022.
It was also their 31st game undefeated in the Premier League. All those records listed made City seem impenetrable but in hindsight it looks rather embarrassing.
Just 10 days after the article went live, City lost for the first time against Tottenham in the EFL Cup.
Before completely capitulating and losing to Bournemouth, Sporting and Brighton.
Now they’ve tasted their first defeat in the Premier League at the Etihad as well, with a shocking 4-0 loss.
This gives us shades of that classic Barcelona tweet about them definitely being able to score one goal at Anfield before Liverpool’s famous 4-0 victory.
There are many parallels to draw with that Barcelona attitude at Anfield to how City are playing at the moment as well.
Pep Guardiola has now conceded 2+ goals in five consecutive games for the first time in his career as a manager:
Spurs 2-1 Man City
Bournemouth 2-1 Man City
Sporting 4-1 Man City
Brighton 2-1 Man City
Man City 0-3* SpursFraudiola. 🇪🇸❌ pic.twitter.com/ILxvYFGSO4
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) November 23, 2024
Like Barcelona’s, City’s downfall has been so unprecedented. They had set club records in their brilliant charge and suddenly completely collapsed.
Guardiola can blame it on the absence of Rodri but this the reality is probably starker.
City look like a shadow of themselves and it seems like they’ve lost that winning mentality.
If you’re looking at City objectively it feels like they have gotten a bit complacent. The last few years of success have taken their toll. Based on their last five games it’s quite evident that the side’s attitude is no longer the same as it was.
City look vulnerable and easy to exploit.
None of the star players are stepping up. In fact Guardiola is having to bench the likes of Jack Grealish and Kevin de Bruyne.
All that means that Liverpool have a huge chance of winning the Premier League title. It may be early days but if Slot’s side can go 11 points clear, that’s a huge advantage. One that this City side doesn’t look likely to be able to claw back at the moment.
