Two things Guardiola must do to revive Manchester City

Two-time defending champions Manchester City have endured a lukewarm start to the ongoing Premier League term.

To make matters worse, they recently slumped to a defeat against arch-rivals Manchester United, despite the fact that not a lot has gone right for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his men so far. And that game, in particular, exposed a lot of flaws in the current City squad.

With the January transfer window coming up, it looks like Pep Guardiola must return to the drawing board.

Fellow title challengers Liverpool are perched firmly atop the table with a 14-point gap, meaning City have their work cut out for them as the season nears the halfway mark. While their hopes of defending the trophy for the third consecutive time looks rather slim, here are two things Guardiola must do to fix their ongoing woes.

Sort out the defence

Their decision to not replace Vincent Kompany might have seemed harmless back in the summer. After all, with Aymeric Laporte, Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones in the mix, the Citizens can also rely on Fernandinho to slot in at centre-back. Following Laporte’s injury, however, things have been rather chaotic.

They have conceded 19 goals in 16 games so far and while that doesn’t look bad on paper, it does send a clear signal when compared to Liverpool’s 14 and Leicester City’s 10. The lack of cover has also placed additional strain on Otamendi and Stones, both of whom continue to underperform.

Exhausted midfield

Leroy Sane’s injury has created a rippling effect in the City squad. With the German winger out on the sidelines, Guardiola has used Bernardo Silva on the wings more often than not.

As a result, Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva have had to shoulder a good bulk of the responsibilities in the middle of the park, leading to exhaustion which was evident against the Red Devils. And Fred dictated the show in the midfield, taking advantage of the situation.

After picking up successive Premier League title wins, City appear to have lost their mojo. But if there’s anyone who can get them back on track, it has to be Guardiola.