In years gone by, this time of the season is typically when Manchester City go up a gear. Across Manchester City’s era of dominance, they have generally gone on season-defining winning runs that have started towards the end of January and the beginning of February. But this is a new-look Manchester City side. It isn’t yet known if this iteration of City has the ability to shift up a gear like we have seen in previous City sides. We may get an answer to that question in Manchester City’s next four matches. City face Galatasaray, Tottenham, Newcastle and Liverpool in their [next four matches](https://www.mancity.com/fixtures). You feel that each match is pivotal in Manchester City’s season given what is at stake in all four games.
Galatasaray will pose a tough test for Manchester City ahead of a pivotal run of matches.
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Manchester City face Galatasaray in a pivotal Champions League fixture tomorrow night at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side must beat the Turkish league leaders to have any hope of finishing in the top eight of the Champions League league phase table. Losses to Bodø/Glimt and Bayer Leverkusen in City’s Champions League campaign have left them precariously placed in terms of clinching a top-eight finish. City will need to win and hope that results go their way to secure the top-eight finish they need. To do that, they’ll need to beat a Galatasaray side who are packed with quality.
Any team that has Victor Osimhen, Mauro Icardi, Leroy Sane, Ilkay Gundogan, Gabriel Sara, and Mario Lemina to name a few in their lineup will be a handful. When you consider that City will be without a host of senior defenders and Rodri for tomorrow night’s match, Manchester City will have a fight on their hands to overcome Galatasaray. It won’t be a walk in the park for Pep Guardiola’s side tomorrow night. But if City can do the job against a Galatasaray side packed with quality, it could set them up for what lies ahead in their next three matches.
We will learn more about Pep Guardiola’s new-look side over the next four games.
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Following tomorrow night’s match against Galatasaray, Manchester City has three pivotal fixtures. They will face Tottenham on Sunday in a massive Premier League fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side will then play Newcastle United in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie at the Etihad. City holds a 2-nil aggregate lead after the first leg. Following that match, Pep Guardiola’s side goes to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League. City has only won twice at Anfield in nearly 20 years. Including tomorrow night’s match, it is a brutal four game stretch for City. But during this stretch of matches, we should learn plenty about Pep Guardiola’s side.
This City side has a core group of experienced players who have navigated this stage of the season before. Rúben Dias, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Erling Haaland, and Phil Foden have been there before. The question is how Manchester City’s new batch of players will handle the expected rise in intensity and pressure. The next four matches could answer that question. There is no doubt that a challenge lies ahead for Pep Guardiola’s side against Galatasaray, Tottenham, Newcastle, and Liverpool. As much as each match is a tricky proposition, they are all winnable from a City point of view.
The challenge for this new-look City side is to navigate this four-game block and set themselves up for a challenge on three fronts. It won’t be easy; each match has its own set of challenges. You do sense that we will learn a lot about this Manchester City side in the next four games. Come the final whistle at Anfield, we should have a better indication of what this City side can achieve this season.