Pep Guardiola has “incredible confidence” in his failing Manchester City superstars as he backed the Premier League champions to rediscover their form.
City suffered a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday as their dismal run continued.
They have now lost nine of their last 12 games in all competitions.
For the first time under Guardiola, City is winless in five consecutive away games in the Premier League (D1, L4). City last failed to win more such games in a row under Manuel Pellegrini in December 2015 (six).
But Guardiola, who suffered a blow earlier this week when centre-back Ruben Dias went down injured, has not lost faith in a side that has achieved so much.
“It depends on us,” Guardiola said, as reported by BBC Sport. “The solution is [to] bring the players back [from injury].
“We only have one central defender, which is difficult.
@ErlingHaaland's post-match reflection.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 21, 2024
“We'll try it next game, [for] another chance and we don't think much further than that.
“We are conceding goals that we haven't conceded in the past [don’t] scoring the goals we have scored in the past. Football is not just one reason. There are many small factors.
“We won the Premier League last season, but we came here [Villa Park] and lost. We have to think positively and I have incredible confidence in the boys.
“Some of them have an incredible pride and desire to do it. We have to sooner or later, step by step, find a way back.”
City's latest defeat leaves them sixth, nine points behind leaders Liverpool, who have two games in hand.
Their previous nine defeats in all competitions prior to this dreadful run came in a run of 112 games, while only in 2019/20 (12) and 2016/17 (10) have a Guardiola side lost more games in a single season (nine in 2024-25).
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