Ian Wright alludes to Pep Guardiola comment as reason for Man City blip vs Crystal Palace

Arsenal hero Ian Wright has agreed with Pep Guardiola that the volume of games Manchester City have to contend with during the run-in could be a reason for their defensive lapses, such as seen against Crystal Palace.

Should the Blues make it through to both the FA Cup and Champions League finals, they will play an average of a game every three days. The ratio is already close to that currently, but all Premier League teams have played three matches within eight days post-international break.

Like title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool, City have European football to contend with this week. The Treble winners face Real Madrid in Spain on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final bout ahead of Luton Town at home on Saturday.

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Arsenal, meanwhile, face Bayern Munich while Liverpool are on the Thursday-Sunday rota thanks to their Europa League last-eight meeting with Atalanta. All three teams play the return legs next week, too.

City sit third in the Premier League table, a point off leaders Arsenal, with seven matches left. They secured a 4-2 win away at Crystal Palace at Saturday lunchtime, having initially gone behind in the game.

After full-time, Guardiola lamented City’s sluggish start before hailing Kevin De Bruyne for winning his team the game with two goals and an assist for Erling Haaland, sandwiching a Rico Lewis strike.

“We were not solid defensively today,” the City manager told the BBC. “But I give it for the reason of [games every] three days, three days, three days. At the end, we demand the players a lot.”

Appearing on Match Of The Day, Arsenal legend Wright acknowledged City’s lax defensive mindset in the first half, highlighting two rare Rodri mistakes that almost led to Palace goals.

He said: “They [City] did start pretty sloppily and I think he [Guardiola] is making reference to the fact they are playing so many games so quickly and they’re having to play at 12.30, but they did start pretty erratically in the way they were passing out.”