Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves believe an unsettled defence has contributed to Manchester City's inconsistent season.
City have been far below their usual incredibly high standard this season despite the goal-scoring brilliance of Erling Haaland. They are yet to win more than four games in a row in the campaign, when in recent years they have built their trophy triumphs on being able to put together lengthy winning streaks.
It's put Pep Guardiola's side's grip on the Premier League title in serous peril as they battle Arsenal for the crown and the past week couldn't sum up their inconsistency better. The Blues defeated the Gunners in a thrilling match but then threw away three points as they drew with Nottingham Forest.
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Speaking ahead of City's return to Champions League competition against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, BT Sport's pundits are in agreement over one of the causes of their rocky form.
"We were talking off air, and you look at all the successful teams down the years, the bedrock and foundation of any great team is having continuity at the back," Ferdinand said. "They just don’t have that at City at the moment, they’re changing every week down to injuries or just choice.
"History tells you that you do need to have the same faces playing more often than not. You look at Real Madrid yesterday, you knew the two centre halves, Rudiger and Militao, were gonna play. Ramos and Varane before that. You through history and that’s what happens, so they’re going to be doing something different if they’re going to win it, the way that they are at the moment."
Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker and Rodri have all played at centre-back for City this season, with Guardiola being unable to settle on his first choice pairing.
Hargreaves added: "Newcastle are another one. One of the best defences in the league, you know who is going to play. If you think back to Man United when they were winning stuff, Rio and Nemanja Vidic, they were there. Chelsea - John Terry and Carvalho. Arsenal, the same thing.
"Every team has a stable partnership, and City now have four or five top centre backs - before it was a weakness, now they’ve got four or five - at some point you’ve got to settle. So if you watch Man City you know it’s Dias and Laporte, or Stones. A bit like United and a bit like Chelsea."
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