It’s clear for all to see where Manchester City have lost ground on Liverpool this season. Pep Guardiola’s men could yet win the Champions League, the competition owner Sheikh Mansour craves most.
But hopes of a third straight Premier League title slipped away when star defender Aymeric Laporte suffered a serious knee injury in the 4-0 win over Brighton in August.
City didn’t replace Vincent Kompany and losing Laporte, who was Guardiola’s most used centre-back last season, was too big a blow to recover from.
In 19 Premier League games without their talismanic centre-back, City managed just five clean sheets. The problems at the back lie deeper than Laporte’s absence, though.
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