MANCHESTER, England — Pep Guardiola faces a challenge as Manchester City struggle with an unreliable defense, making it difficult to replicate last season’s treble success.
With eight goals conceded in three games and six lead surrenders, Guardiola’s team is dealing with issues more commonly associated with Manchester United than City. Their recent 3-3 draw with Tottenham ended a three-game losing streak.
These are unusual times at City. It is the first time they have gone three Premier League games without a win since March-April 2017, and you have to go back to Nov. 2009 for the last time City led in three successive league games and failed to win any of them, as Guardiola’s side have done against Chelsea (4-4), Liverpool (1-1) and now Spurs.
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City will have to take on Aston Villa without Rodri, who is serving a one-match suspension due to a yellow card earned in the Spurs game. Their defense will have to be restructured, with a number of players potentially stepping in to fill the void.
One of the main issues is an unreliable left-back, putting pressure on City’s defense. This has been compounded by the struggles of Rúben Dias at center-half. Guardiola has admitted that his team has to find a way to rectify these defensive issues.
Perhaps City are merely in the midst of a run of tough games against opponents prepared to, and capable of, attacking and causing the champions problems. Villa are in the same category as Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs, but after City travel to Villa Park, their fixture list becomes less hazardous with games against Luton, Crystal Palace, Everton and Sheffield United before the end of December.
It’s clear that City have a challenge ahead; opponents are confident they can beat them. Tottenham, despite injuries, retained that belief and were rewarded with their equalizer.
The vulnerabilities of City’s defense have been exposed, and the recall of their draw against Tottenham is likely to bring some confidence to other challengers as well. The champions have some work to do to address these issues.
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