Man City kicked off the Manchester Derby with a 0-2 defeat to Juventus in the 6th round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying round. This result marked another bad milestone in the form of Pep Guardiola's team when they only won 1/10 of their recent matches, including 7 losses. Man City is getting further and further away from the championship, if they continue to lose to Man United this weekend, they will consider raising the white flag on the journey to defend the Premier League title.
After returning to England from a trip to Italy, Pep Guardiola gave an interview ahead of the home game against Man United this Sunday. The Spanish tactician said that he currently has only three fit defenders who can play. Pep himself admitted that he does not know how to arrange the defense for this very important match.
City will be without Rico Lewis through suspension, while John Stones is still out after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered against Tottenham in November. Last week, City won 3-0 at Nottingham Forest, their only win in 10 games in all competitions, but it came at a steep price. The Citizens lost both Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji to injury after those three points.
Pep's suffering was expressed in his statement explaining the injuries of Ake and Akanji. The 53-year-old strategist said that his central defender duo were in pain due to the accumulation of previous matches. Man City's recent series of matches with high intensity, poor results, plus a series of injuries, everything seemed to collapse completely before Pep Guardiola.
"I don't know what to do with this situation. Man City need people but at the moment there are only 3 healthy defenders. Well, let's wait and see what happens with this number of personnel in the next match.
The coaching staff will have to make different considerations. Maybe we will play a right winger at full-back. Matheus Nunes can take that responsibility. Or, Man City can turn to a five-back formation to make the best use of what we have. Until now, I have not made a specific decision" - Pep Guardiola shared.
The start of the season has been really bad for Man City after winning the Premier League for the fourth time in a row last season. They lost the reigning Ballon d'Or winner - Rodri for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury. Almost parallel to this incident, Pep also did not have the services of playmaker Kevin De Bruyne for 10 weeks due to the Belgian midfielder having a herniated disc.
Last season's Premier League best player - Phil Foden has been plagued by minor injuries, causing his form to plummet. Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic, who was considered to be Rodri's replacement, has not appeared due to injury since FIFA Days in November. A modest sign of good news for Pep is that both Kovacic and Foden were named in the squad for the midweek match against Juventus. They have not played yet, but that proves that their condition is gradually improving.
Man City currently have 27 points after 15 matches, 8 points behind leaders Liverpool, while The Kop have 1 match left to play. If they lose the Manchester Derby this weekend and Liverpool win the remaining match, the gap between the two teams could widen to 14 points. At that point, any small hope of defending the title will disappear completely.
