Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted Premier League title defence would have crept into his players’ minds after a third defeat in four games.
City suffered second consecutive defeat on Wednesday after suffering a 1-2 loss to Leicester. Bernardo Silva opened the scoring for the defending champions before Marc Albrighton cancelled City’s lead. Ricard Pereira netted the winner in the second half to ensure the Foxes claim all the points. City, who were also beaten by Chelsea and Crystal Palace in the league this month, has 44 points at the halfway stage of the season and sit seven points behind leaders Liverpool and one behind Tottenham Hotspur.
“Now there will be doubts, and what you have to do is try to change the dynamic to winning and put in a good performance. I don’t forget who we are, how good we are, how exceptional the lads are in the locker rooms,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“The fact is we lost three in four, and the last two, and if you want to be real contenders we have to win again,” he added.
“They are better than us at that moment, you have to accept it, and it’s important to accept where we are, and they are improving. The reality is there are two or three teams better than us. We’re not talking about whether we can take Liverpool or get to Liverpool or whatever, the issue is about winning another game, and thinking in ourselves about how we can improve.”