It has been quite the past couple of weeks for Manchester City Football Club.
It’s not very often that fans welcome an international break, but Manchester City supporters are quite happy for a bit of a rest from club football given recent performances and results.
City’s defeat to Brighton last weekend means the club are now on a four-game losing streak, something which is practically unheard of for City under Pep Guardiola.
Losses to Tottenham Hotspur, Bournemouth, Sporting CP and Brighton have gotten a lot of people talking, with many wondering if City’s era of dominance could be coming to an end.
Things aren’t great right now, but Manchester City News believes there are three clear reasons why fans should remain optimistic
Man City are still in healthy positions in the PL and UCL
Some people have gone way overboard with their concerns about Manchester City right now, when the reality is that the club are still in a great position.
In the Premier League, City are only five points behind Liverpool. There are still 27 games left to play and we all know how good City have been historically in the second half of seasons.
Over in the Champions League, City sit in 10th place on seven points at the halfway stage. Picking up another seven in the next four will more than likely mean automatic qualification, and the next game is against Feyenoord.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 28 |
| 2 |  Man CityManchester City | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 23 |
| 3 |  ChelseaChelsea | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 19 |
| 4 |  ArsenalArsenal | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 19 |
| 5 |  Nottm ForestNottingham Forest | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 19 |
| 6 |  BrightonBrighton | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 19 |
While they are obviously not to be underestimated, they are no Sporting CP.
All four of City’s defeats over the past couple of weeks have come away from home. Thankfully, City now have three of their next four games at the Etihad Stadium.
January transfer window is approaching
One of the reasons City have been struggling is because of the injury to Rodri.
The Spaniard is the most influential player in the squad, and absence has really stung so far.
But City have the chance to do something about this, with the January transfer window now not far away.
Rodri is thought to have advised City to sign Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad and it’ll be interesting to see if the club make a push to sign him.
City could potentially also do with another forward with Julian Alvarez’s output having not been replaced. There is an overreliance on Erling Haaland to score the goals right now with others not chipping in, and getting a back-up striker in would be helpful.
City looked at Kyogo Furuhashi of Celtic in the summer, so perhaps a new play will be made for the Japan international.
- READ MORE: Martin Zubimendi has three clear reasons to choose Man City over Arsenal, including Guardiola factor
Players returning from injury, including Oscar Bobb
It is very rare for clubs to have as many injuries as City have had at one time.
Guardiola stated recently that he has never known anything like it in his nine years at the club, but the situation will ease after the international break.
Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji haven’t had too many injuries during their spells with the club and you would expect both of those players to become available and be regulars again.
- Man City injury list 2024/25: Latest updates and potential return dates for sidelined stars
There are slight concerns over the likes of Jeremy Doku, John Stones and Jack Grealish, with all three being a bit fragile.
But Kevin De Bruyne has finally returned for City and isn’t playing for Belgium over the international break. His creativity and directness have been greatly missed.
And then, of course, there is Oscar Bobb to welcome back in the New Year – and the Norwegian starlet’s return will be an extremely welcome boost.
Bobb was hailed as a ‘masterpiece’ by Shaun Wright-Phillips in pre-season, and fans were left dismayed when he suffered an injury just before the start of the new Premier League campaign. It will be brilliant to have him back.
