Manchester City lost to Aston Villa 2-1, marking their sixth defeat in eight Premier League games.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has cast doubt on his team's ability to win either the Premier League or the Champions League this season, citing a lack of squad depth as a major contributing factor to their recent poor form.
Guardiola's assessment comes amidst a period of inconsistency for the Citizens in both competitions.
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Manchester City lost to Aston Villa
Manchester City's struggles under Pep Guardiola continued on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.
The loss marks their sixth defeat in the last eight Premier League matches, a worrying trend for the reigning champions.
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Haaland failed to register a single shot on target as the defending champions fell to another consecutive defeat in the Premier League.
Jhon Duran put Villa ahead early in the game, and Morgan Rogers extended their lead in the 65th minute. While Phil Foden managed to pull a goal back for City in stoppage time, it proved to be a mere consolation as Villa secured the victory and climbed above Guardiola's side into fifth place in the league table.
Guardiola downplays Man City's title hopes
When questioned by TNT Sports about the possibility of reviving their title hopes, Guardiola offered a blunt response: "No."
He continued, “We don’t have the players. It’s more difficult. I don’t have the feeling now. Maybe it’s going to happen, who knows?
“But I have the feeling that now we have to think in the short term. We cannot put a lot of big, big targets.
15:25 - 21.12.2024
Ice cold Rodgers condemns Man City to 6th defeat, as Villa rise to 5th
Aston Villa beat Manchester City to leapfrog Pep Guardiola's side om the Premier League standings.
“When you want to achieve something important, like win the Premier League, arrive in the latter stages of the Champions League, how you have to behave is this one concept: consistency. All this time we were incredibly consistent and now we are not.”
Man City will host Everton next on Thursday in the Premier League.