Guardiola is choking this Christmas: Seven points behind Liverpool and third in the table

Second straight defeat

Posted Thursday, December 27, 2018 by Marca.com

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City went into the month of December with an unbeaten record but lost to Chelsea on the 8th and have now lost back-to-back games against Crystal Palace and Leicester City, dropping the champions down to third place in the table.

They are seven points behind leaders Liverpool, while Tottenham are just one point ahead, and City have now picked up just three points from a possible 12 in their last four Premier League matches.

Until the Chelsea defeat, City had not shown any sign of weakness, yet since then they have struggled to keep the pace with Liverpool at the top, as well as the in-form Tottenham, led by Mauricio Pochettino.

Liverpool are on course to break the 100-point mark as they have 51 at the halfway point of the season, and on Boxing Day they were able to maintain their goalscoring exploits by winning 4-0 at home against Rafa Benitez's Newcastle United.

The Reds have not won the Premier League title since 1989/90, before it was known as 'the Premier League', and now their seven-point advantage could be pivotal going into the second half of the campaign.

There are two tough tests for Jurgen Klopp's side coming up, however, as they first face Arsenal at Anfield on 29 December before playing City on 3 January; these two games could provide a lifeline for Guardiola and his team.

Meanwhile, Tottenham continue to fly under the radar, despite beating Bournemouth 5-0 at home, and they will continue to mount a challenge alongside Liverpool and City.