Story byUmir Irfan - Football tactics correspondentSun, January 18, 2026 at 5:45 PM UTC·1 min readDespite boasting 68% of possession, City were limited to one shot on target and the second lowest xG of Pep Guardiola's Premier League career. United looked to funnel City into wide areas before defending intensely with four players. On the left, for example, Bruno Fernandes, Patrick Dorgu, Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw converged to reduce the time and space City had. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe number of players committed to the side the ball was on meant the space was on the far side, but City struggled to switch the point of attack, something Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku and Rico Lewis do less of than some of their team-mates. Phil Foden on the right wing or Matheus Nunes have shown this ability in the past and the latter was a particular miss. City lacked Nunes' physical profile to help deal with United's threat on transition by tracking the runs of Patrick Dorgu and aiding Rodri, who found himself having to deal with both Mbeumo and Bruno at times. When penned back, United defended in a way that gave time and space to the City centre-backs more than anybody else. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut, despite stopping numerous counter-attacks, when he had possession Abdukodir Khusanov struggled to take advantage of the spaces United left, as did Nathan Ake and Max Alleyne. Their lack of ball-playing quality meant City struggled in a way they may not have done if they'd had the injured Josko Gvardiol, John Stones and Ruben Dias on the pitch. Read more tactical analysis of Man City's defeat to Man Utd here.