Pep Guardiola is currently experiencing the toughest stretch of his managerial career after Liverpool defeated his Manchester City team 2-0 this afternoon.
Despite being the defending Premier League champions, few expected City to overcome the Reds, who had an eight-point lead heading into today’s match.
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Liverpool’s lead after 13 matches now stands at nine points.
Today’s game was a passing of the torch for one man. Mohamed Salah, the league’s most in-form player, scored and assisted in a Premier League match for the 36th time, equaling the competition record held by Wayne Rooney.
Salah’s assist for the opening goal was also his 75th for Liverpool in the Premier League, allowing him to surpass Thierry Henry’s record of 74 assists for Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Gakpo, who scored the opening goal, became the third Liverpool player this season with over 10 goal involvements across all competitions, adding to his tally of eight goals and two assists. He joins Salah, who has 24 goal involvements, and Luis Díaz, who has 11. Notably, no Premier League team has more players in double figures for goal contributions this season.
Liverpool’s nine-point lead is their biggest margin as Premier League leaders in the competition since the final day of the 2019-20 campaign, when they won their last title (18 points).
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For City, today’s result leaves them in fifth with Arsenal moving into second. The team are in a tailspin of unprecedented (and unwanted) records that are blemishing Guardiola’s legacy.
They suffered five consecutive losses before squandering a 3-0 lead against Feyenoord in the Champions League earlier this week, resulting in a 3-3 draw. It is now seven matches since they last won a game, something that has never before occurred in Guardiola’s illustrious coaching career.
Pep Guardiola has now set an unwanted record in each of his last three games in charge of Man City. ?
Against Tottenham, he saw his side lose five consecutive games for the first time in his managerial career.
Against Feyenoord, he saw his side fail to win after being three… pic.twitter.com/LmxDnHoUQ7
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 1, 2024
In that aforementioned European Cup match, he witnessed his team fail to secure a victory despite being three goals ahead. This was also a first. As was the outcome just a few days earlier when Tottenham defeated City 4-0 and made it five consecutive losses for Guardiola.
Things did not get any better in Merseyside as today marked the first time since January 2011, when facing Wolves, that City conceded seven shots in the opening 20 minutes of a Premier League match. Even more alarming, this also marks the first occasion since April 2012 that City have trailed in four consecutive Premier League games, a streak that previously lasted five matches.
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