Pep Guardiola has conceded Manchester City are grappling with a significant midfield crisis for the second consecutive season. After being without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri for much of last term, and with the Spaniard still battling fitness issues alongside Mateo Kovacic's absence, the champions find themselves overly dependent on Nico Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the sole City player to have featured from the start in each of their last three fixtures, with most of the in-form squad rested for last week's Champions League loss to Leverkusen.
It came as little surprise, then, when he was withdrawn with City 5-2 ahead at Fulham and fewer than 30 minutes remaining. Yet the midfield collapsed in his absence and the side retreated as Fulham pressed forward, which only emboldened the hosts to push harder. City ultimately held on, though they required a goalline clearance from Josko Gvardiol during stoppage time. Guardiola must now reassess his options, knowing Gonzalez cannot feature in every match as City pursue silverware across four fronts.
"We have a problem. We have three holding midfielders and two injuries for a long time. Rodri will be back soon but Kova will be later," he said. "We don't have anyone and today we prove it. I have to think about it.
"Maybe Nico O'Reilly can play there and Rayan Ait-Nouri or Nathan can play left-back. Tijjani [Reijnders] can play but he's more a player for attacking positions, his position is where he scored the goal where he can be unstoppable in pockets. We have to find something."
Despite their defensive frailties, City closed the gap to just two points behind Arsenal at the Premier League summit, leaving the Gunners casting anxious glances behind them. Shipping six goals across two matches isn't a recipe for title success, yet the Blues continue to accumulate points whilst operating well below their peak, with expectations of significant improvement ahead.
As the Premier League's longest-serving manager, Guardiola understands the various routes to silverware, even with a largely rebuilt squad. Arsenal remain firm favourites, though there's still considerable ground to cover this season.
"Arsenal have to play tomorrow, they are so strong and so solid," he said. "We have to put in our mindset that it will be difficult but at the same time the Premier League is so long. I am the oldest manager in the Premier League and have enough experience to make a long run to try to fight to win the Premier League. It is so long.
"Chelsea impress me more and more every day with Enzo (Maresca), it's long. Many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we were in January or February we were behind. The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grow during the months and this is what we try to do.
"If we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better. We'll see what happens now against Sunderland. I saw the game against Fulham and oh my god now I understand why Sunderland are in the position they are.
"They are so incredible, they are top. But with the problems that we had and many good things, we are in a better position than last year, we are a bit closer and we continue."