Manchester City lost its fourth straight game, 2-1 at Brighton, on Saturday, and fed growing speculation that this, finally, could be the end.
The four-time reigning Premier League champs went ahead via Erling Haaland, but then collapsed, and could fall five points behind Liverpool at the top of the EPL table by day’s end.
They conceded two goals in six minutes to Brighton, during a 25-minute stretch in which they didn’t take a single shot. And they looked a far cry from the team that has, for most of the past seven years, ruled English soccer.
The four losses — to Tottenham in the League Cup, to Bournemouth in the Premier League, to Sporting CP in the Champions League, and now to Brighton — equal City’s total from the entirety of last season. And this season, of course, is not even 3 months old.
They also mark the first time that Pep Guardiola has ever lost four consecutive games in his managerial career.
A spate of injuries has contributed to City’s sudden decline. Once Kevin de Bruyne and Rúben Dias, Jérémy Doku and Jack Grealish, John Stones and others get fit, City will be better. They also struggled with injuries last season, slipped behind Arsenal, lost to Aston Villa in December … and then didn’t lose the rest of the season, until they’d lifted the EPL trophy.
But the most significant injury this time, to Rodri, won’t heal until next season.
His absence has left a gaping hole in City’s midfield. Their struggles without the Spaniard — who tore his ACL in September — have justified his winning of the 2024 Ballon d’Or, and proven his irreplaceability.
With Mateo Kovacic trying, and failing, to replace him, City’s defense has been more porous than ever under Guardiola. They’ve conceded 15.4 Expected Goals — an advanced stat that measures quantity and quality of chances created — through 11 league games. That’s significantly more than — and, in some cases, more than twice as much as — any of Guardiola’s previous City teams had conceded at this stage of the season.
There is still plenty of time to right all these wrongs. At worst, City is still a close second-favorite to claim another Premier League title. By May, they very well could be back atop the league, as they often have been since Guardiola’s second season.
But by then, 100-plus charges for breaching financial rules could bring consequences much more extreme than a potential second-place finish.
The end of City’s reign, now more so than ever before, seems like it could be near.