Pep Guardiola: ‘Maybe another team deserves to win Premier League’

Guardiola previously lost three back-to-back games with Bayern Munich, before losing a fourth in a shootout, in the 2014-15 season.

His worse run as City boss had been three successive defeats.

Asked about the current run, Guardiola told Sky Sports: “Two in the Premier League. You have to count the victories and defeats, and we will win a lot.

“If you have to count how many victories in a row, we are far away from that position.”

It is “not nice” to lose two league games in a row, but City are “not far away” from the top of the table, in second place going into the international break, he said.

On Saturday, City took a first-half lead at Brighton through Erling Haaland’s 12th Premier League goal of the season.

The Blues dominated for much of the first half, having 67% possession and five shots on target to Brighton’s zero.

But that flipped after the break to just one on target, to Brighton’s four. City looked lethargic for large periods of the second half as Brighton substitutes Joao Pedro and Matt O’Riley scored to earn the win.

It was the first time City had lost a Premier League game having led at half-time since 2021.

Speaking on Match Of The Day, former City defender Micah Richards said: “The most defining thing for me is not pressing any more. They’re going as individuals.

“When you lose the best midfielder in Europe [Rodri] you’re always going to have a strain on the team. But they are just too easy to play through at this moment in time.”

Guardiola added: “We are not able to do 90 minutes right now.

“We played a really good first half, but we were not able to sustain the rhythm in the second half.

“We lost again so [we will] clear our heads [in the] international break and hopefully our players come back fit.”

In his news conference, Guardiola added: “When the players come back, I don’t have any doubt that we will be back to our best.”

City’s run is tough after the break, with games against Tottenham, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, Manchester United and Aston Villa before Christmas.