Manchester City Pep Guardiola's lost a football match and the Premier League breathed a sigh of relief. They seemingly won't be running away with the title after all. An exhilarating Tottenham Hotspur performance exposed the weaknesses City had fleetingly shown in their opening six wins of the season. Spurs' 2-0 win also reminded that Guardiola's project at the Etihad is very much in its embryonic form. The way they are trying to play, out from the back starting with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, is an ethos which promotes risks that come with rewards. So, when meeting their voracious match at White Hart Lane, it was not too surprising that the cards came tumbling down. Indeed, even after making it 10 wins from 10, Guardiola said in September: "Losing is necessary to improve, to get better."
With those words in mind, Guardiola will seek a reaction from his players when they host Everton on Saturday. The trouble is that the international break that followed their defeat at Spurs will have provided the manager with next to no time to work with his players on what went wrong and how to address it. So, while Everton are also still finding their feet under new manager Ronald Koeman, this could be the perfect time to strike against the table-toppers. And although Guardiola exudes focus and intensity, a trip to Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday might prove to be an unwanted distraction. As an aside, it's surely not a coincidence that City have not won either of their games since Kevin De Bruyne sustained his injury. The good news is that the supremely gifted playmaker is back in training.
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