Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has advised his team to brace up for more trying times as they seek to maintain their winning ways and competitive edge thief season.
“I know our standards, but we’ve lost just one [league] game. Maybe we are going to lose again in the [next three games in the] Premier League against Brighton, Tottenham, and Liverpool,” Guardiola said.
“We are just two points behind Liverpool who are a top-class team. We’ve started well in the Champions League, but I know people expect us to win 38 league games and win the Treble every season as these are our standards.”
According to him, his team is rife with injuries as City is currently without key players such as John Stones, Ruben Dias and Kevin de Bruyne at the weekend.
“The reason it is difficult is because we have had a lot of absentees, which can happen in some seasons,” Guardiola said.
“To win the Treble, everything has to be on the same page with injuries, but this is not possible this time.
He admitted that the other Premier League teams are very strong “and everything is more difficult and we have to accept that. That is the challenge.”
Premier League champion, Manchester City, suffered a first league defeat of the season against Bournemouth on Saturday, three days after losing to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup by the same 2-1 scoreline.
