From imperious to porous! Six reasons why Manchester City's defence is leaking goals at an alarming rate

Ilkay Gundogan was pretty much the perfect midfielder. He was able to dictate the pace of a game and exert his own control on it with his subtle touches and passing, and was also more than capable of scoring crucial goals, stepping up in clutch moments like the final day of the 2021-22 season or in last season's FA Cup final.

The German's departure to Barcelona left City with an enormous hole and they could never fill it entirely, but they brought in Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes to at least plug some of the gaps. Unfortunately, the new signings have had their share of injury problems, making just 12 starts in all competitions between them.

The pair's absences, coupled with John Stones' long stretches out, has put too much pressure on Rodri to anchor City. The Spaniard has done an amiable job and the team are almost lost without him, but he has naturally struggled to give the team the same control they had last season.

Guardiola's greatest tactical tweak of last season was to reinvent Stones as a holding midfielder, giving the defender license to move forward when City were in possession. He had originally experimented with Rico Lewis in the role, but found that Stones was better suited to it.

The result was that City enjoyed greater possession and control, as Stones was able to slow the pace down when needed or step it up, helping his side break the press with his renowned ball carrying skills.

The former Everton man has, however, been injured for the majority of the season, depriving Guardiola of his ideal link-man between defence and midfield. Stones injured a hip muscle in the Community Shield, missing the first two months of the season. He only got three-and-a-half games under his belt before picking up another injury against Young Boys and is yet to make his return.

Guardiola has mostly played Manuel Akanji in the role in Stones' absence, and he has had some success there, especially against Liverpool, when City managed to control most of the match but failed to kill off Jurgen Klopp's side, allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold to equalise with a late howitzer.

But the Swiss' limitations compared to Stones' aptitude for the role became more apparent against Tottenham, above all in the second half. The good news is that 'the Barnsley Beckenbauer' is set to return imminently and could feature on Wednesday against Aston Villa.

City have also had to make do without Kevin De Bruyne, their captain and talisman of the last eight years, for the entirety of the season, not counting the 20 minutes he played on the opening day against Burnley before tearing his hamstring.

De Bruyne is known more for his attacking threat than his defensive contributions, but his absence means City are missing one of their main focal points on the pitch. The Belgian ranked second within the team last season for progressive ball carries and progressive passes completed, and third for progressive passes received, which shows his influence on the team's overall play beyond the more obvious metrics of goals and assists.

And if you believe in the mantra that attack is the best form of defence, then De Bruyne's lengthy absence explains City's problems at the back even more. The playmaker has scored 96 times and assisted 153 goals for the Blues, and last year was as effective as ever, with 10 goals and 31 assists.

If De Bruyne were fit and available, it's easy to imagine that City would have taken care of Liverpool and Tottenham long before their late fightbacks, as well as tamed the chaos at Stamford Bridge.

Jeremy Doku has been one of the most exciting things to happen to City this season and taken almost no time at all to impose himself on the Premier League. The winger has also quickly won over the fans at the Etihad, who rise to their feet in anticipation every time he picks up the ball.

Doku has been a revelation and City are a much more vibrant and unpredictable team with him in it. But the other side of the coin is that the 21-year-old's exhilarating dribbles make City more vulnerable to turnovers, giving the opposition the chance to counter-attack when they are out of shape.

He is also not the best player when it comes to tracking back or jockeying his marker, and Son Heung-min was able to comfortably dribble past him and score Tottenham's opening goal on Sunday. When the Belgian plays, City look less balanced and less assured than when Jack Grealish is on the left wing.But lately, Guardiola seems to have been willing to accept the defensive downside of playing Doku over Grealish for the attacking upside, starting him in the last three matches.

Grealish was one of City's best players last season largely down to his willingness to follow Guardiola's orders, frequently hugging the touchline and slowing play down so his team-mates could get forward, but he has had his own fitness struggles, missing a month with a thigh injury and falling victim to a vomiting bug before the Liverpool game.

Ederson has often been regarded as a goalkeeper who is more useful with his feet than his hands, but his general competence for saving shots has meant his status as City's No.1 has rarely been questioned.

But doubts about him have begun to creep in from supporters as he often tends to get beaten with the first decent shot he faces. These questions began to emerge last season, but as City kept on winning, the fact he conceded the occasional goal in an otherwise routine win went largely unnoticed.

But things have changed within the last month as City have been less effective at finishing chances and are conceding more opportunities. Ederson hasn't been able to step up when City have needed him, keeping only four clean sheets in his 13 league appearances.

His form has not been overly concerning and he has not dropped any clangers - unlike his Manchester United counterpart Andre Onana on the other side of town - but there are a handful of goals which he could have kept out.

Against Chelsea he was too slow to get to Thiago Silva's header, and later in the game parried Conor Gallagher's shot straight back into the danger area, where Nicolas Jackson was waiting to follow it up. He also should have done better with Son's goal for Tottenham, and there were also question marks about his positioning for Giovani Lo Celso's strike from distance.

An alternative take on City's recent defensive problems is that they have merely been dealt a bad hand. They have played three quality opponents in quick succession in the league and a decent enough side in Leipzig in a match that, in reality, was of little importance.

They have also had the misfortune to concede a lot of goals despite allowing relatively few chances. Guardiola's side have conceded an average of 2.8 shots per game in the Premier League, amounting to 39 in total, and somehow let in 16 goals. Effectively, they are conceding a goal for every 2.4 shots they allow the opposition. In other words, their opponents are being remarkably efficient in front of goal.

Guardiola sought to explain this in the press conference after the 3-3 draw with Tottenham. “People say are you are concerned about the goals you concede, yeah of course, but how many chances do we concede?” he said. “It’s ridiculous, we concede nothing.”

That is not entirely true, as Chelsea managed 12 shots against City in the breathless 4-4 draw, while Liverpool had six and only scored once. Tottenham, to be fair to Guardiola, were more efficient, scoring three times from only five attempts.

City may have another daunting fixture coming up, away to in-form Villa and are without suspended duo Rodri and Grealish. But after that, they have a far more comfortable run of games before the end of 2023, at home to Crystal Palace and Sheffield United and away to Luton and Everton. It's not hard to imagine City winning all four and keeping a clean sheet in each game.

City's current malaise of leaking goals may end up curing itself with time, but for now it is a problem they cannot ignore. Guardiola, as ever, will be devoting all his time and energy to solving.