Manchester City’s defensive record is its worst ever under Pep

Manchester City’s defensive record in the Premier League is their worst ever start to a season under Pep Guardiola.

The champions have conceded more goals and conceded fewer goals after eight Premier League games than in any other season since 2016.

Despite being the only unbeaten side in the Premier League, City have never conceded more goals at this point in the season since Pep took charge.

With nine goals conceded, they have only kept one clean sheet so far. The last time they managed so few goals after eight games was in 2016/17, in Guardiola’s first season.

And this year they have only conceded eight goals at this point, officially making this season Manchester City’s worst defensive start to a season under Guardiola.

Manchester City’s defensive record after eight Premier League games

City’s defensive problems could cost them the Premier League title

Only once did City manage to concede so few goals after eight games. They also only had one goal in the 2016/17 season and subsequently finished third, 15 points behind champions Chelsea.

This season they had conceded eight goals in their first eight games, one fewer than in the current season. City have already conceded nine goals twice in their first eight games, 2019/20 and 2020/21.

While they secured the title in 2020/21, City missed out on the title again in 2019/20 when Liverpool won the Premier League.

This shows that Manchester City’s defensive record matches the only two seasons in which they failed to win the Premier League Cup under Pep Guardiola.

Results are all that matters

But despite showing greater defensive frailty than ever under Pep, City are still winning games.

They remain undefeated and have picked up 20 points from their first eight games.

Only once have they taken more points under Guardiola at this point, with City amassing 22 points in the first eight games of the 2017/18 season.

Manchester City is happy to be able to outperform its opponents

With so many world-class goalscorers, City seem content to simply score more than their opponents, even if that means conceding a few more goals themselves.

Players like Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva ensure that the champions will never be short of goals and can afford to keep clean sheets as long as they win games.

So far, City have scored at least two goals in seven of their eight Premier League games, but they have been unable to overcome a weak defense all season.