- The Cityzens are 10 points behind their tally last Christmas after nightmare run
- They lost again at the weekend, slipping to defeat away against Aston Villa
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Are Tottenham managers treated differently to other managers?
Michael Owen somehow saw Manchester City‘s current woes coming, in a sensational pre-season prediction which has since gone viral.
The Cityzens’ miserable campaign continued over the weekend as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa – a result which looked kinder after Phil Foden‘s last-minute consolation.
Things came to a head for Pep Guardiola‘s men after a derby day nightmare against rivals United earlier this month which saw the champions ship two late goals to lose at home to their neighbours for the first time since 2021.
At one point, City lost five in a row in all competitions and they have only won one Premier League match in their last eight, while conceding a hatful of goals, in a run of form similar to that of a relegation contender.
It all means they will be stranded in seventh at Christmas with just 27 points in 17 games – 10 points fewer than their tally this time last year.
Very few saw the capitulation coming but one man who can count himself among the mystic bunch is Michael Owen, who issued a remarkable pre-season prediction which has just resurfaced.
Michael Owen somehow saw Man City’s shocking run coming in his pre-season prediction
Pep Guardiola signed a new contract this season but his team have won one in eight in league
Owen demonstrated his mystic powers by saying that the Cityzens ‘could stumble this year’
He told Football365: ‘Manchester City will struggle to finish in the top four this season.
‘Arsenal and Manchester City will be in almost every team’s top four predictions.
‘I’m going to put my money on Arsenal first, Liverpool second, Aston Villa third and Manchester City fourth.
‘The title is in Manchester City’s hands, but I think they could stumble this year. They have stepped up very strongly when they needed to and last year they had an incredible run, but at some point they will fall short.
‘They also have an investigation pending and Pep Guardiola is not going to be there forever. This could be his last season.’
All very spooky – and former Ballon d’Or winner Owen has been quick to draw attention to his psychic capabilities in the last few days.
He reposted the prediction on X along with an upside-down smiley face emoji.
On Saturday Guardiola, who recently signed a new contract after he was heavily touted to move on once his deal was up next summer, revealed what he felt the key issues were with his team.
Their atrocious run leaves them 12 points behind leaders Liverpool at Christmas
Things reached a lowpoint when they blew a lead to rivals Man United at home and lost 2-1
City lost again on the weekend to Aston Villa to leave them on just 27 points after 17 matches
‘We struggle to score and we concede goals,’ he said.
‘We make a really good first half, we still have problems with the mistake.
‘Second half we dropped, we changed a little bit our pressing for the reason John (Stones) could not continue and we were not as good as the first half. Congratulate Aston Villa and keep going.’
Guardiola confirmed that Stones had suffered a recurrence of his previous injury, with the defender having been replaced by Kyle Walker at the start of the second half.
He added: ‘Our build up was comfortable but in the middle they are so strong. They follow really good the pockets, the physicality with Onana and Kamara.
‘We could link inside. We had good moments, not big chances. We had more chances than the United game for example, but the second half we dropped.
‘Our pressing was not effective in our right side and we struggled a little bit. After we could not drop them well. We found a goal at the end but it was too late.’
