Pep Guardiola reveals reason behind Man City struggles and how to improve with Erling Haaland

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has discussed his side’s recent struggles in the goalscoring opportunities department, ahead of their next Premier League clash.

City take on Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night, as they look to secure their first win in over a week after back-to-back defeats in the Carabao Cup and English top-flight.

Last week saw Pep Guardiola’s side crash out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Southampton, before a late comeback from Manchester United saw them fall to a 2-1 loss on derby day at Old Trafford.

This week, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham are the visitors to the Etihad Stadium, as Manchester City look to keep the gap between themselves and league leaders Arsenal to just eight points, with a double header against Mikel Arteta’s side on the horizon.

Speaking on his side’s struggles this week ahead of their next game, specifically in the chance creation department, Pep Guardiola admitted that their play in an attacking sense has decreased in quality.

When quizzed as to why City have only registered one shot on target in their last two games, Guardiola responded, “The reason is the creativity to play hasn’t been as good as usual. Sometimes to have chances, you need a good build-up, spread the defensive lines. We struggled in the last two games.”

However, Guardiola was swift to deny any suggestion that there is a ‘mentality issue’ embedded within his first-team squad, as he said, “When we play good, always it’s tactical reasons. I have the duty to find the reasons. The mentality in this group (being an issue), no.”

One man who has struggled in front of goal more than any other point this season is Erling Haaland, with the Norwegian clearly lacking service from his teammates.

Guardiola was asked whether his players were still learning how to play alongside the former Borussia Dortmund man, to which he responded, “We have played really good with him. To play better, provide balls to him as much as possible.”

Manchester City take on Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night, with a clash against Wolves in the Premier League scheduled for the following weekend in a hectic January fixture list.

The same month also contains a high-profile FA Cup fourth round clash against Arsenal – the first meeting between the two Premier League title challengers all season.