Manchester City aren't accustomed to bad runs, or even indifferent ones. Even on the rare occasions they drop points, they often are still creating chances and the mantra remains true that the only side who can really beat City are themselves.
In their eight games leading up to Thursday's clash with Tottenham, though, City had lost three and drawn another, with some unconvincing performances to match. In their back-to-back defeats last week, they mustered just one shot on target.
Pep Guardiola went out of his way on Wednesday to stress that City's recent goalscoring troubles were his fault and not his players, and indicated that he had a clear idea to rediscover their rhythm. Although few could have expected that dropping talisman Kevin De Bruyne would be part of the masterplan.
