On Saturday, Manchester City will play Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League, and if his club loses for the fourth time in a row, Pep Guardiola will have to deal with an undesirable managerial first.
After losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup, City lost to Bournemouth in the league, and on Tuesday, Sporting, a Portuguese team led by former Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, crushed them 4-1 in the Champions League.
However, Guardiola remained hopeful.
The Premier League leaders, Liverpool, are two points ahead of City, who may turn things around by claiming that they were strong for the most part of their three defeats.
“There always is a first time (to lose four straight), hopefully it is not the case,” Guardiola told reporters.
“Twenty minutes against Fulham we were not good, against Bournemouth we were not good, but the rest of the games we were good. We are good. We will see what happens.”
Guardiola has never lost four games in a row as manager, but during his first season in charge in 2016–17, City did lose six straight games.
Even though interim England manager Lee Carsley named Jack Grealish in his squad for the forthcoming international break, the manager stated that Grealish will not return from injury on Saturday.
Ruben Dias and John Stones, who were also not present on Tuesday, are not anticipated to play against Brighton.
“No good news,” the manager said. “The same, I think, as Lisbon.”
While City midfielder Bernardo Silva said the team are “in a dark place” after their humbling loss in Portugal, Guardiola said his players are not in any need of extra reassurance.
“I don’t think so. Of course, we are not used to losing three games in three different competitions but it is football and it has happened,” the Catalan said.
“We know the reason why we struggle but we are looking forward to this game and after the international break, and after that a few players will be back and recovered.
All the little problems we have with players will be solved. I hope.”
Guardiola was questioned about whether he had a trip to Abu Dhabi to speak with City’s owners over the international break, given that his managerial contract is slated to expire at the end of current season.
“No,” was all he would say on the subject.
Guardiola signed his last two contract extensions during November international breaks.
