Premier League: “Everything is going wrong” – The ills of Manchester City and Arsenal

The omnipotence of Manchester City is severely damaged by an unusual series of defeats. A problem shared with its runner-up of the last two seasons, Arsenal, under high pressure before the 11th day of the Premier League.

And one, and two, and three setbacks: the “Citizens” stumbled against Tottenham (League Cup), Bournemouth (championship) then Sporting Lisbon (Champions League), a triptych unprecedented for them since 2018. “We are in the dark and everything seems to be going wrong,” summed up striker Bernardo Silva, brutally, after conceding a severe 4-1 in Portugal.

“For twenty minutes against Fulham (3-2 victory on October 5, editor’s note), we were not good. Against Bournemouth we were not good. But the rest of the matches, we were good. We are good,” Pep Guardiola explained on Friday to the media.

In its misfortune, Manchester City can still rejoice in having spread the defeats in three different competitions, which makes the picture less gloomy in the Premier League. The quadruple defending champions, in fact, are only two points behind the current leader, Liverpool, before going to Brighton on Saturday (6:30 p.m.).

However, the deficiencies displayed by Pep Guardiola’s team in recent weeks are starting to worry their most loyal supporters, who are not used to such a gap. The midfielder, in particular, seems much more crumbly since Rodri, Ballon d’Or 2024, seriously injured his knee. The Spaniard is much more than a sentinel, he is also a totem player who has not lost in the league in 52 matches with ManCity.

His absence adds to the recent physical problems of Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish and John Stones. Leader and captain Kevin De Bruyne, on the other hand, played again in Lisbon for the first time since mid-September.

Arsenal: watch out for too many missteps

Arsenal are affected by the same problems: poor results, infirmary problems and a team that is much less solid than before, particularly defensively. The “Gunners” only pocketed one small point in three league matches (two defeats interspersed with a draw against Liverpool) before losing to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.

In the Premier League, the Londoners slipped to fifth place with 18 points. They could even fall to eighth before the derby against Chelsea kicks off on Sunday (5:30 p.m.) at Stamford Bridge. The trip to the “Blues” will therefore be short but perilous for Mikel Arteta’s men. A defeat would indeed generate too big a gap, with too many teams, in the standings.

Chelsea FC – Arsenal FC

Tue 10.11. 17:25 – 19:30 ∙ blue Sports Live ∙ Chelsea FC – Arsenal FC

In any case, this is Thierry Henry’s opinion. “It would be extremely difficult because there would be too many teams to catch up… I don’t see two teams collapsing,” the former France international and Arsenal legend said on CBS Sports.

Liverpool plein tube

After ten days, Liverpool have the wind in their sails. The current leader, with an iron defense (six goals conceded), only lost five points out of thirty possible before hosting Aston Villa on Saturday (9:00 p.m.). However, there is no question of getting carried away for the new coach, Arne Slot, who has nevertheless won fourteen of his first sixteen matches, in all competitions, on the bench of the “Reds”.

Liverpool FC – Aston Villa FC

on 09.11. 20:55 – 23:00 ∙ blue Sports Live ∙ Liverpool FC – Aston Villa FC

“The only thing I expect from them is that they work every day as hard as possible to take their marks, our marks,” said the Dutchman, questioned Friday at a press conference on the expectations surrounding his team.

With this mindset, he added, “normally the results come too, but I don’t ask them to win every match. I hope they will, but what I ask of them is to make an effort every day. That’s the only thing we focus on.”

Liverpool, third last season, won the title for the last time in 2020, after a thirty-year wait.