Manchester City

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Former Premier League manager Martin O'Neill says Pep Guardiola "needs to remove doubts" from his Manchester City squad by clarifying his future.

Guardiola's contract is due to expire this summer, and he has yet to confirm whether he will stay at the club beyond the end of this season.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, O'Neill said: "If it's something that’s on the minds of the players that their manager is thinking of leaving, then perhaps he should come out now and say: 'Listen, I'm hanging around - I'm not leaving at the end of the season' That might relieve doubts in players' minds.

"It's very difficult to keep winning."

The reigning champions are on a four-match losing run, having fallen to a 2-1 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.

The loss left the side second in the table, five points adrift of title rivals Liverpool heading into the international break.

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Manager Pep Guardiola says it is "not true" that Manchester City are "special" after experiencing their fourth successive defeat on Saturday.

City's 2-1 defeat at Brighton meant four losses in a row for the first time since Guardiola became manager in 2016.

It was the the defending champions' second successive league defeat and left them sitting five points off leaders Liverpool going into the international break.

"I was a football player and many times I lost a lot of games - four in a row, five in a row, six in a row," Guardiola said. "I never expect different - the fact we won in the past, that we are special. People can believe that, but it's not true.

"You can lose four games in different competitions.

"I know after you win, everything is perfect. Against Fulham, we won and we played miles worse than today [against Brighton], Sporting Lisbon and Spurs. Miles away.

"But we are not consistent enough to maintain this level that helped us to win what we want for many years. Hopefully in the future we'll come back - and if we don't come back, we'll learn from that."

Despite the recent poor form, it is not unusual for City to have lean spell at this time of the year, having a run in autumn 2023 that included one win in six before going on to win the title again.

"Four in a row, but [we won] six titles in seven years, playing against Bournemouth and Brighton. All the teams in this league are important, that puts it in perspective. You take for granted before the season that City will win again," Guardiola added.

"Right now, we are not in our best - it's obvious. But still, it's November so hopefully we'll come back step by step."

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Former Brighton striker Glenn Murray, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast about Manchester City's run of four successive defeats:

"In Pep Guardiola's time in charge, it [the concern] is as high as it's ever been.

"The one thing that was kind of a saving grace for the first three defeats is that they were all in different competitions. But, now that's back-to-back [defeats] in the Premier League. That's starting to become a worry. You don't want that points tally to get too big between you and Liverpool.

"The international break is so important for City - just that little bit of breathing space to regain a little bit of composure and get lads back who are on the cusp of being fit. For instance, they had Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake on the bench. I'm sure they can't have been anywhere near fully fit, otherwise they would have started the game.

"They do look very susceptible on the counter-attack at the moment. They have not been their clinical selves.

"Letting Julian Alvarez go to Atletico Madrid was always going to be a problem, for me. I feel as though he picked up a lot of the slack. Whenever City weren't quite firing, or Erling Haaland wasn't at his tip-top best last season, he would score goals and put the gloss on games that were maybe going to end 1-0 or 2-0, he would put the third or fourth on there.

"Letting him go without any real cover has been and could be continuing a problem."

Listen to more analysis on BBC Sounds

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Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards spoke to BBC Match of the Day about the Blues' struggles: "The international break has come at the right time, and I think Guardiola is right to mention the injuries [to key players].

"The most defining thing for me is that they aren't pressing any more. When they do press, they go in as individuals.

"When you lose the best midfielder Europe [Rodri] it's always going to be a strain on your team, but they are just too easy to play through at this moment.

"They are just playing as a team of individuals."

Listen to the full analysis on BBC iPlayer

Manchester City are prepared to pay the 60m euros (£50m) release clause for Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi, 25, as they continue their search for a replacement for Rodri in January. (Mirror, external)

Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde, 26, is another candidate for City but the Uruguay international has a release clause of 1bn euros (£830m). (Fichajes - in Spanish, external)

Paris St-Germain is a plan B for Manchester City's Erling Haaland, with Barcelona and Real Madrid also interested in the striker, who is out of contract in 2027. (Football365, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Highlights and analysis from Saturday's six Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Wolves 2-0 Southampton

• Brighton 2-1 Man City

Phil McNulty
Chief football writer

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Manchester City's fourth successive defeat, this time at Brighton on Saturday evening, only increases scrutiny on manager Pep Guardiola.

It is now City's worst sequence of results since between April and August 2006, when they were under the management of Stuart Pearce.

Guardiola was in reflective mood after Brighton came from behind to win 2-1, saying: "Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserve it."

If anyone believes this is the start of Guardiola raising the white flag, one look at his frantic body language - swinging between despair, frustration and very occasional praise for his players - says otherwise.

There is little doubt, however, that Guardiola has huge problems to solve as Liverpool, smooth and increasingly unruffled and efficient under new Head Coach Arne Slot, stand five points clear at the top of the table.

Guardiola's own future is also a point of discussion, with his contract expiring at the end of this season and, publicly at least, no indication of whether he will stay.

He insists he "loves" the task of turning around City's unexpected dip in fortunes and, on the evidence on show at The Amex Stadium, he has plenty on his "to do" list.

What he cannot do anything about is midfielder Rodri's knee injury, that will keep their most pivotal player out for the season. Mateo Kovacic is a fine operator but City simply do not have the inpenetrable shield Rodri so often provides.

Kevin de Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji have also been absent, putting even City's vast squad under strain.

What no-one can do either, though, is write off an all-time great manager leading a great team.

City have been past masters at hunting down Premier League leaders and overhauling them, but they are in serious danger of leaving themselves with an awful lot to do, even at this early stage of the season.

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Pep Guardiola spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Manchester City's defeat against Brighton: "We are not able to do 90 minutes right now. We played a really good first half and moments in the second half. We lost again so clean our heads, international break and hopefully our players come back fit.

On whether form is a worry: "We have to try and win games again. We were not able to sustain the rhythm in the second half. Four [defeats] in a row. We have to change things quick.

"The schedule becomes tough but it is going to happen when the players come back. Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserve it. We see what happens in Liverpool against Aston Villa, we'll see.

On Jahmai Simpson-Pusey: "He played really, really good today, really really good. It's not easy to play in these circumstances. He was really, really good."

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Pep Guardiola has lost four games in a row in all competitions for the very first time in his managerial career, while Manchester City have lost four straight games for the first time since August 2006, when Stuart Pearce was manager of the club.

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Brighton’s performance, external

What did you make of Man City’s display?, external

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

Six matches make up Saturday's Premier League action, and we will bring you every moment.

• Brentford v Bournemouth

• Crystal Palace v Fulham

• West Ham v Everton

• Wolves v Southampton (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live)

• Brighton v Man City - 17:30 (listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Liverpool v Aston Villa - 20:00

Kick-off 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.

For week 11 he takes on Mylee and Tate from CBBC football drama Jamie Johnson FC (JJFC), which is set in the world of an elite academy at fictional Premier League club Hawx United.

Sutton's prediction: 1-2

Brighton ended up losing last week, but they absolutely played Liverpool off the park at Anfield for 45 minutes.

I'd not seen much of Seagulls midfielder Yasin Ayari beforehand but I was at the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, and what a great young player he looks. The same goes for Jack Hinshelwood too.

The way they played out from the back, with such bravery and confidence, was impressive and Liverpool had to dig very deep to recover from 1-0 down and beat them.

Manchester City are going to have to do the same to get back to winning ways. After they lost to Sporting on Tuesday, City midfielder Bernardo Silva said they are "in a dark place" at the moment, but they are champions for a reason and I am expecting a response.

They have got a point to prove, and that might help them find the energy they will need.

Mylee's prediction: I am hoping for a City defeat here! It is going to be close, but I actually think they will win. 2-3

Tate's prediction: There are going to be a lot of goals... and Brighton are going to win. City slipped up last week, and it might happen again. 4-3

Read the rest of their predictions and have your own say here

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has insisted that Jack Grealish is not fit to play against Brighton on Saturday, despite the winger being called up by England.

On Thursday, Grealish - who has not played for City since 20 October - was included in Lee Carsley's 26-man squad for England's upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

Carsley said after the announcement that he "expected Grealish to be fit" and he would be assessed when he links up with the national team.

Guardiola said at a news conference on Friday: "It is [Carsley's] decision. In 17 days he didn't train once. [Friday] is the first training and he trained for 20 minutes. This is the reality.

"He was in the gym for a few minutes, yes, the last two days. It's a question for the manager from [England] - I'm not involved. All I'd say is the day after Wolves, he was injured, 17 days out and [Friday] was the first training with the team."

City captain Kyle Walker returned from England duty last month with an injury and, in the aftermath, Guardiola said he had never been as angry as when John Stones was hurt playing in an England friendly during a crucial part of last season.

"They can select who they want," Guardiola added on Friday. "Jack trained today and believes he can help us. I'm not the guy to say you cannot go. But for my team [on Saturday] he's not fit. He cannot play.

"The people from England believe he can help. So go."