Three things we learned - Aston Villa 2–1 Manchester City

Yesterday at 11:15 AM

City lose again in final match before Christmas.

Manchester City were beaten by the better team as Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers gave Aston Villa a comfortable 2-1 victory.

The former City academy graduate set Duran's goal up in the first half from a swift counter attack and bagged in the second following a driving run

Phil Foden pulled back a late consolation goal for his first strike of the season but it was too little too late for a weak City side.

Here are three things we learned from the defeat in the Midlands:

Rogers the worst possible player for City to face at the moment.

There is no player better suited to exploiting City's weaknesses at the moment than Morgan Rogers.

The 22 year old is a good ball carrier and a strong runner, as illustrated by his goal against the Blues where he held off numerous of City's players making a challenge.

He also offers speed in behind and can run off a defender, which he did to set Duran up for the first goal.

And to top it all off, he's a former City academy graduate who left the club in 2023 and has seen his career explode ever since (along with Cole Palmer, who was the thorn in City's side last season as he scored a last minute penalty against them in a 4-4 draw.)

He'd make a big difference to the side at the moment, though it unfortunately is a transfer we're unlikely to ever see happen.

Injuries continue to be the bane of City's existence

John Stones' return from injury lasted for all of 45 minutes, as it did last time he made a recovery.

City's number five was replaced at half time by Kyle Walker, a change that made City's decent first half turn south very quickly.

Thankfully, we saw Manuel Akanji emerge injury free and Nathan Ake make the bench, but both have to be managed carefully in order to be kept fit and fresh across the upcoming run of very winnable games.

Next four games are must wins

Speaking of which, the next four games define City's season.

Four wins out of four would bring back some momentum. It wouldn't be crisis averted but the confidence would be flowing, they'd rise up the league table and would progress through to the next round of the FA Cup.

By that point, City would be in January and able to reinforce. A big name such as Bruno Guimaraes or Martin Zubimendi would reportedly be unlikely, but hopefully City can add at least two of a new defender, defensive midfielder, and attacker to strengthen for the second half of the season.

However, no wins out of the four would really spell trouble for City.

Any thought of the league title would be nipped in the bud - it wouldn't be just about fighting for the top four, but for Europe in general.

It's integral that City bounce back from the worst run of form they've had in many years and recover to make something out of this season of transition.