Manchester City suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 12 of the 2024/25 Premier League, marking their fifth consecutive loss across all competitions.
This is uncharted territory for Pep Guardiola. Typically known for his sides going on long winning streaks, he has never encountered something like this in his managerial career before.
City’s current struggles go beyond just the five straight defeats. They have noticeably failed to replicate the dominant form they have been displaying in the last so many seasons, raising concerns about their overall performance, squad cohesion, and depth.
Let’s take a look at a few factors indicating why Manchester City are not as ruthless this time round.
Long-term injuries to key players
Man City lost Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne to long-term injuries earlier this season. While Rodri suffered a season-ending ACL injury against Arsenal at the Etihad, De Bruyne suffered a groin injury against Inter Milan and has been sidelined for two months, having just made his comeback through minutes off the bench and still looking far from his best.
With their star defender Rúben Dias and midfielder Mateo Kovacic also missing due to injuries, the Sky Blues have had to field changed line-ups whose defensive frailties have been exposed. Even though all teams go through injuries over the course of a season, not having world-class players like Rodri, De Bruyne, and Dias at your disposal will always affect a team’s style of play.
For context, John Stones, a big performer in central defence, has started seven Premier League games so far, while Nathan Aké has also missed a number of games due to injury. City’s young talented winger Oscar Bobb, who was looking set to have a breakthrough season this time round, suffered a broken leg at the start of the campaign and is now sidelined for a long time.
Leaky defence conceding goals every game
City’s woeful losing streak can’t be attributed to injuries alone, as other teams have lost key players to injuries as well and are still playing considerably well.
The once strong and robust City defence has been leaking goals at a baffling rate. For context, they have conceded 15 goals in their last five encounters against Spurs, Sporting (in the Champions League), Bournemouth, Brighton, and Spurs (in the League Cup).
The current struggles in their midfield and defence are evident in City’s recent performances. Players like Kovacic and Ilkay Gündogan have failed to provide adequate protection to the defence, while Kyle Walker, once known for his exceptional pace, is being easily outpaced and bypassed by younger, more energetic wingers. The team looked way too reliant on Rodri to single-handedly resolve defensive issues while he was on the pitch, highlighting a potential weakness in a squad otherwise full of quality. This has raised serious concerns about the balance and depth of this City squad.
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Over dependence on Erling Haaland to provide the goals
City have been too dependent on star forward Erling Haaland to provide the goals this season, while the other players in their forward line and midfield are hardly chipping in with goals in crucial moments.
Haaland has scored 12 out of City’s 22 goals in the league this season—that’s more than half of his side’s total tally. In comparison, Phil Foden and Savinho have scored no league goals. Even the midfielders have kept quiet, with the trio of Bernardo Silva, Kovacic, and Gundogan having scored a measly three goals.
Guardiola’s men have struggled to replicate their previous years’ dominance. With midfielders no longer contributing up front as they once did, City are also lacking a consistent left-sided goal-scoring winger, with players like Jérémy Doku and Jack Grealish showing promise in attack but not consistently shouldering the scoring responsibility alongside Haaland. Savinho has been a standout player so far, yet he too has hardly made many goal contributions.
Poor performance in the summer transfer window
City have been the masters of the transfer window in recent years, with the £51m signing of Haaland from Borussia Dortmund two summers ago arguably the best business done by any side in the Premier League ever. But the team were significantly weakened at the start of this season after the shock departure of Julián Alvarez, whom they did not replace.
City only managed to rope in an ageing Gündogan—who returned from Barça—and Savinho in the summer. With De Bruyne spending a long part of the season off the pitch, Walker looking like he has lost his pace for good, and Kovacic not being as mobile and acting as only a stop-gap option, Manchester City have definitely missed a trick in the summer by failing to rope in more young energetic midfielders and defenders, while also letting go potential squad players like Liam Delap, João Cancelo, and Kalvin Phillips, who could have helped out in their time of need.
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