Lacking resilience After a surprising loss in Paris, Manchester City will host Chelsea

Pep Guardiola’s team is once again under scrutiny as they get ready to meet top-four opponents Chelsea in the Premier League’s crucial weekend match on Saturday, just when it seemed like Manchester City had returned to normal operations.

The champions appeared to have put all of their frustrations from the first half of the season to rest last weekend with a 6-0 thumping of Ipswich Town.

It turned out to be somewhat of a mirage, though, as City was in serious danger of losing the Champions League after a terrible surrender to Paris St. Germain on Wednesday.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the French capital, City lost 4-2, dropping to 25th place in the 36-team standings and having to win their final game to have a hope at a postseason berth.

Chelsea, who defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday to snap a five-game losing streak in the Premier League, will welcome the opportunity to further bruise City’s pride.

Even if they are in fourth position, two points clear of fifth-place City, and their title challenge may have waned, Enzo Maresca’s team will be feeling upbeat as they travel to the Etihad.

Few would have given Chelsea much of a chance to surpass Guardiola’s team come January after City defeated them 2-0 at Stamford Bridge on the first day of the season.

In order to secure a spot in the Champions League the following season, City must contend with teams like Chelsea, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United, and even Bournemouth. This is the new reality, at least for this season.

On Saturday, third-place Forest, who are tied with second-place Arsenal at 44 points, will play seventh-place Bournemouth (37).

Sixth-place Newcastle United, with 38 points, will visit Southampton, the bottom team, in an attempt to recover from last weekend’s humiliating 4-1 home loss to Bournemouth.

With one game remaining, leaders Liverpool, six points ahead of Arsenal and Forest, will visit third-bottom Ipswich on Saturday. Meanwhile, Arsenal, aware that they must begin a winning run, will go to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

HORRIBLE CAMPAIGNS

Two teams are frantically attempting to salvage their dismal league campaigns on Sunday.

Ange Postecoglou, the manager of Tottenham Hotspur, is said to still have the support of the club’s top management even though his team is eight points from the drop zone and in 15th place in the standings with 24 points.

They have only triumphed once in their previous ten league games, but they have an opportunity to turn things around when Leicester City, who have dropped seven straight games, visit. But Australian Postecoglou would be under a lot of pressure if he had another failure.

Only two points separate Manchester United and Spurs in 13th place. Last week, manager Carlos Amorim suggested they would be the worst United team ever. He clarified his comments on Wednesday by claiming the criticism was directed more at him than his players.

On Sunday, Aston Villa, in eighth place, hosts struggling West Ham United, while United takes on Fulham, in tenth place, at Craven Cottage.