Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United will have upset Pep Guardiola as it greatly harms their Premier League title defence, but the Sky Blues manager will also be concerned at his side’s woes in the final third.
Saturday’s clash at Old Trafford was the fourth time in City’s last five Premier League games that they failed to score more than once – 2-1 defeat to Brentford (Nov 12), 3-1 win over Leeds United (Dec 28), 1-1 draw to Everton (Dec 31), 1-0 win over Chelsea (Jan 5), 2-1 defeat to Man Utd (Jan 14).
Zach Moloney of Vital Man City noted that City have a problem scoring goals away from home, but not enough players outside of Erling Haaland are contributing on a regular basis.
Haaland leads City’s scoring charts with 21 goals from 17 Premier League games – 40.5% of his side’s total this season. Phil Foden is second in the table with seven goals from 18 games, but City don’t have another player with more than three.
Guardiola hasn’t been able to rely on his attacking players. Julian Alvarez has scored just one goal in his last nine league games, stretching back to late-August. Jack Grealish has also scored only one goal in his last nine league outings, though he’s managed three assists in that time.
Foden has scored one goal in nine, stretching back to mid-October, and Riyad Mahrez has two league goals from 13 outings this season. Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva haven’t scored in the top-flight since August either, so a lot of players aren’t pulling their weight.
Pep will be hoping they’ll find their scoring boots against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening.
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