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After four consecutive Premier League titles, with a Champions League thrown in there, Manchester City are having a nightmare season, being on the brink of a Champions League exit at the league phase and struggling to keep pace on the top four in the Premier League.
In this article, we are going to look at the numbers behind their downfall this season, comparing their stats and numbers this season to their four title winning seasons.
We'll start of in attack as that is what Man City and Pep Guardiola have been known for in his time, and just starting out simply, City are scoring 2 goals per game, the 3rd best rate in the league, and a rate that is lower than all four of their recent league wins, where on average they scored around 2.5 goals per game.
In expected goals, Man City are averaging 1.9 xG per Premier League game this season, which is less than their last three seasons, where they average around 2.2 xG per game.
Whilst these numbers aren't atrocious and are still up there with the best of the league, they showcase that even in the area of the pitch where Man City's main qualities lie, they have dropped down to league standard.
Their attacking struggles have been a result of a couple of reasons, one being they are struggling to win the ball back after losing the ball with no recognised ball winner in the midfield with Rodri out of the side and also an ageing attack combined with an unproven attack, with Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva all past their best, with new attackers Jeremie Doku and Savinho not up to the world class level yet.
Their lack of maintaining a control on games in the Premier League can be shown in their possession numbers, where City are averaging 61.4% this season, still the most in the league, but lower than all four of their previous seasons, where on average they had 65.3% possession.
This lack of possession compared to their normal standards have led City to defend in different ways, as before they would control the ball a lot more, and would win the ball back quickly and very rarely have to defend deep, in which they don't have the personal or practice to do, but this season with the lack of possession and ball winners in midfield, they have been forced back into their own half a lot more, with personal that aren't used to defending that way.
Defensively, City are very leaky, giving up 29 goals in 22 games in the PL this season, an average of 1.3 per game, a vast decline from their previous high standards, where in their four PL wins on the bounce, in which they averaged 0.8 goals against per game, a drop-off of half a goal per game, which over a course of the season is equivalent of 19 goals.
This drop-off of half a goal conceded more per game and half a goal less scored per game over the course of the season would see a 38 goal difference negative swing, a huge overall difference, taking their normal outstanding standards, which won them four league titles on the bounce to just regular Premier League standard.
Their underlying numbers defensively aren't pretty either, with City allowing 1.4 xG per game on their goal this season, which is down on their average of 0.8 xG allowed in their previous four seasons.
City's defensive struggles can also been showcased in their shots against per game, allowing 9.86 per game, the second best total in the league, however, City are giving up the best quality of shot in the league with an average xG of 0.14 per shot conceded, with an average distance per shot of 15.5 yards.
These numbers are much worse compared to their previous four seasons, where, on average, City gave up 7.2 shots per game, on an average of 0.10 xG per shot, at an average of 17.3 yards, which showcases the underlying stats of City not only giving up more chances per game, but also better quality chances.
The number of touches the opposition are having against Man City in dangerous areas are on the rise, giving up an average of 18.5 touches in their penalty area per PL game, a decline of their average of 13.7 previously, with their total of 407 this season in 22 games almost already as much as their total of 464 in the 2021-22 season.
Now, lets look at the number of games where they are struggling, as City have struggled defensively in some games in past seasons, but they always had dominant periods, but this season is definitely the exception.
Seeing City leak multiple goals per game this season has become a regularity, conceding 2+ goals in 10 games already this season, which is in 22 games, a massive downfall after having just 6 games last season of conceding 2+ goals in a game.
Over the past four PL seasons, City have had a total of 10 games giving up 2+ xG, which is outstanding, but this season alone, they have given up 7 games of 2+ xG.
Already this season as well, City have had 13 games giving up 10+ shots per game, which is already more than their total of 9 games from last season.
City have also only kept 5 clean sheets in the PL this season and have not kept back-to-back clean sheets this season and have gone of three streaks of 4+ games without a clean sheet, which has only happened five times in their previous four seasons.
City's lack of control in games can also be shown by the leads they have given up this season, losing twice and drawing twice in the PL after taking the lead this season already, having lost just once from winning positions in the past three seasons in the PL.
With all these stats, there hasn't been an improvement in a single are for Man City this season, which means with declines in all these areas, it is easy to see why City are struggling in both the Premier League and Champions League, which shows to how just a couple of bad transfer windows and some bad injury luck, any team can see massive decline very quickly.
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