Simon Bajkowski, Manchester Evening News: Man City in unknown territory | OneFootball

Reigning champions Manchester City have found themselves in "unknown territory" this season having lost nine matches in all competitions since late October, explains Simon Bajkowski, chief City writer for the Manchester Evening News.

Despite winning their last two Premier League outings, Pep Guardiola's side are 12 points adrift of leaders Liverpool ahead of Tuesday night's game against Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium.

It has been an unusually turbulent campaign for Man City so far, and they sit sixth in the Premier League table going into Tuesday’s game. How would you summarise the season to date?

It started off better than expected, it got much worse than expected, and it has not really recovered. They have won the last two games, which could help them, but their performances have not been any better.

They are struggling like we have never seen this Pep Guardiola team struggle before and lots of teams are taking advantage of that fact.

Why do you think their form has taken a downwards turn?

It started with injuries. They survived Rodri's long-term injury but then, at the end of October, all of their centre-backs were injured.

It has led to too many players being unavailable, and the players that are available being overworked, and their performances going down as well.

The confidence of the whole team has taken a hit and it has brought a situation whereby players who are not used to losing so many games are put in a situation where they are losing a lot of games, and the things that they are trying to get out of that cycle are not really working.

So, it is both the manager and the group of players who are in unknown territory at the minute.

The gap to current leaders Liverpool stands at 12 points, with 18 games left to play this season. What’s the mood around the club like in terms of whether they are still in the title race or not?

They are not even thinking about the title race. They are thinking about the Champions League this month because they might not qualify for the knockouts, which would be extraordinary, but that is the peril of the situation they are in.

They are just thinking about one game at a time, one performance at a time, and hoping that points and performances can start to bring back their form.

I think Brentford is probably the most critical game they will play this month. Brentford are a very good team and a very good team at home, and if City can beat Brentford, or put in a very good performance, then I think they will take confidence into the rest of the month when they play games in the Champions League and the rest of the Premier League.

Brentford have the opportunity to really kill any momentum that the last two league matches (wins at Leicester and at home against West Ham) have brought.

Which player should Brentford fans be keeping an eye on on Tuesday night?

Savinho has been better in the last two games and has found Erling Haaland to score in those two games.

He scored his first goal of the season at Leicester and there was a sense that that was a weight off his back and he is now more confident in the final third.

Also, behind him, Joško Gvardiol at left-back is still so important for City going forward and that has been a nice partnership that has come together in the last few weeks.

What should Thomas Frank’s side expect in terms of shape and style from Man City?

I think it will be a familiar looking shape, in terms of a 4-3-3 with three wingers and three midfielders. But the midfield has been played through by a lot of teams, including Brentford at the Etihad.

It will be a similar team to what Brentford saw in that game, when they certainly had the chances to win the game.

City have now won the last three meetings after Brentford did the double in 2022/23. What’s your score prediction for this one?

I will say 2-1 to Brentford.