They may have won the Premier League six times in the last seven seasons, but the cracks do seem to be not only appearing but widening in the Manchester City armour.
One could be forgiven when hearing Manchester have lost four games in a row to think that’s referring to United, but indeed it is the Pep Guardiola-led City which finally seem to be on a streak that is not a winning one.
The last win for City came on October 26 in the league when they edged Southampton 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium.
Since then, City have lost twice in the league, once in the Carabo Cup as well as their heavy defeat in the Uefa Champions League when the Ruben Amorim -led Sporting Lisbon thumped the Citizens 4-1 on November 5.
Brighton put on a show
Their latest defeat came at the hands of Brighton who beat the champions 2-1 on Saturday. It seemed that City would be back to winning ways as Erling Haaland took the lead in the 23rd minute, and the scoreline would remain the same for 55 minutes of the clash.
That was until Brighton put on a show for their home fans at Falmer Stadium as they bagged two goals in the space of five minutes through Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley.
Guardiola said after the match: "The level we are playing is really good in certain moments but we are not able to continue for a long time.”
"We were not consistent to maintain our game and our intensity and press and be aggressive for 90 minutes.”
With Liverpool dispatching Aston Villa 2-0 over the weekend, it has seen The Reds claim a five-point lead over City.
Liverpool have 28 points from 11 games, with City on 23. Third-placed Chelsea are now third on 19 points, but are already nine behind the Merseyside outfit.
Of course, Liverpool are the only side other than City to have won the league in the last seven seasons.
Though it was 30 years between league titles for Liverpool in 2019/2020, the odds now seem firmly stacked in their favour, albeit early in the season still, to claim their second in less than a decade.
It would indeed be a title for the ages for Liverpool, in Arne Slot’s first season as coach of the Anfield outfit.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
** JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Send us an email with your comments, thoughts or responses to iolletters@inl.co.za. Letters should be a maximum of 500 words, and may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Submissions should include a contact number and physical address (not for publication).