Manchester City is currently going through a state of decline, and there is little sign of it ending.
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa leaves them bottom of the table in their last eight games with only Southampton.
The Saints team, which is at the bottom of the English Premier League, has the same number of points [four] City have also won their last eight matches, one, drawn one and lost six times – the same record achieved by the struggling champions.
If Southampton – who appointed Ivan Juric as new manager on Saturday – at least pick up a point against Fulham on Sunday, City will be in the worst shape in the division.
Even Wolves, who sacked coach Gary O’Neill last Sunday and replaced him with Vitor Pereira, picked up twice as many points over the same period after playing a game less.
It’s a bad stat for Pep Guardiola, even if he has some extenuating circumstances with injuries to Ederson, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias – who all missed the loss at Villa Park – and the long-term loss of midfield strength Rodri.
Guardiola was pleased with Saturday’s performance, despite the defeat in Birmingham, but there is little consolation in being further removed from the title race.
He may have needed to field the unfit Manuel Akanji and John Stones at Villa Park, but that does not mean City look a shadow of their former self.
This does not excuse the mistake made by Josko Gvardiol in gifting John Duran a golden chance within the first 20 seconds, or the failure of £100m player Jack Grealish once again to have an impact on the game.
There may be legitimate reasons for City’s relegation, whether it be through injuries, mental fatigue or simply a team reaching the end of its life cycle, but their form, falling from the brink, would have been unimaginable as they marched towards the abyss. Fourth title in a row last season.
