Shaun Wright-Phillips believes unwarranted questions are being asked of Manchester City following what has been a dismal week for the club.
City were eliminated from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Southampton last Wednesday before throwing away a lead to lose 2-1 at Manchester United. The combined 180 minutes saw Pep Guardiola's side register just one shot on target - Jack Grealish's header at Old Trafford - and Erling Haaland kept uncharacteristically quiet.
With dropped points at home to Everton and Brentford either side of the World Cup break, murmurs of discontent have grown among the City faithful. But former Etihad favourite Wright-Phillips has downplayed the so-called issues with Guardiola's side, stressing that a short change in fortunes could easily see them back at the top of the league.
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“See, I don’t actually think it’s gone that wrong," Wright-Phillips told Best Of Bets. "People are starting to question a lot of things that, in my view, don’t need to be questioned. The only thing I can say is that we’re used to seeing City score a lot of goals away from home. That’s tailed off a little bit from earlier in the season.
"But otherwise they’re dominating games and scoring goals. You’ve got Haaland on 21 goals – that’s two goals away from what the Golden Boot has been in previous seasons.
“Ultimately the Premier League is the toughest league in the world, there are no easy games, and you’ve got a team like Arsenal who are absolutely flying right now and playing at 100 per cent every game. Whether they can carry that on until the end of the season remains to be seen.
"All it takes is for Arsenal to draw a couple of games and City to win a couple and the table looks completely different again. Anything can change, even within the next month."
Much can change going into the second half of the campaign, with the trio of City, Arsenal and Manchester United likely title challengers, while one of Newcastle United, Tottenham, Liverpool, Brighton or Chelsea will likely battle out for the fourth and final Champions League place.
And Wright-Phillips has backed his former side to rally and claim a fifth league title in six seasons, pipping Arsenal to top spot: “Just to wind my dad up I’m going to say City first, Arsenal second, and I actually think Newcastle are going to finish in the top four. The way they’re playing, especially defensively with I think 11 clean sheets this season, is phenomenal.
"The last one is the hardest but I’m gonna say United, I think they’ll sneak in there, saying that through gritted teeth!”
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