Pep Guardiola grants Manchester City players time off after Manchester United defeat | OneFootball

Manchester City’s stars have been granted a few days away from training ground duties after the weekend’s crushing 1-2 defeat to Manchester United.

Pep Guardiola’s side succumbed to yet another defeat and fell further behind their competitors for the top-four places in the Premier League table, despite taking the lead in the first-half of Sunday’s contest and holding onto that advantage until the 86th minute.

Josko Gvardiol’s header to meet a deflected Kevin De Bruyne cross gave Manchester City fans hope of derby day joy, only for those smiles to be cut short by a Bruno Fernandes penalty and an excellent winning goal from Amad Diallo in the final minutes.

That defeat makes it eight losses in Manchester City’s last 11 matches across all competitions, and having exited the Carabao Cup in the first loss within that poor run of form at the hands of Tottenham, the Etihad club have a rare free week ahead of their trip to Aston Villa.

But whilst many Manchester City fans were left hugely disappointed by the performance against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, Pep Guardiola has not changed his approach to training ground routine this week.

According to the Manchester Evening News’ Simon Bajkowski, the Catalan head coach’s players have been allowed two days off at the start of this week despite the defeat to Ruben Amorim’s side, remaining in line with standard practice when there is no midweek fixture.

The brief break from training ground duties will likely hand Manchester City’s stars an opportunity to rest mentally ahead of three remaining Premier League fixtures this month, with an immediate return to form needed in order to save their season.

Aston Villa is the club’s next challenge in the English top-flight and a trip to Villa Park will be far from a simple test with Unai Emery’s side having impressed on various occasions across competitions.

However, Aston Villa have seen their Premier League form suffer a similar downturn to that of Manchester City, as the Birmingham club continue to balance their top-flight commitments with a return into the UEFA Champions League.

Pep Guardiola faces the media on Friday afternoon looking ahead to the trip to Villa Park, and will also provide a comprehensive fitness update on his squad with Manchester City desperately needing improved numbers in terms of availability in defence.