Manchester City suffered their third Premier League defeat of the campaign at the hands of Liverpool on Sunday.

The Anfield outfit ran out 3-1 winners to move nine points clear of City, dealing a huge blow on the title chances of Pep Guardiola’s side.

City pipped Liverpool to the title last season with just a point, retaining their league prize as a result.

However, they now have a mountain to climb following their latest defeat, and it will be interesting to see how they respond to the disappointment.

Man. City missed the influences of French centre-back Aymeric Laporte and goalkeeper Ederson against Liverpool, and Daily Mail’s Ian Herbert wrote a detailed and analytical article about defenders who can defend being the Catalan’s blind spot.

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has leapt to Guardiola’s defence after seeing the post on Twitter, and here is how he reacted:

I do find the painstaking search for a chink in the Pep Guardiola armour utterly baffling. A few injuries and the odd defeat and suddenly there’s a weakness. He won every domestic trophy last season. Football teams don’t and can’t always win.