Manchester City have lost successive Premier League games for the first time since 2018 when they suffered defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester
Defeats to Wolves and Arsenal mean that Pep Guardiola's side have lost top spot in the table and are now two points behind Arsenal and Tottenham, with regular rivals Liverpool a point behind them. The losses have made people realise that the Treble winners are mortal after all and that this title race does not look like being a procession.
Repeating that over the second course would have given them a record 102 points and they came mightily close, but a defining defeat came at the Etihad in January where three points for City stopped Liverpool from going the season unbeaten, breaking their Centurions record, and - most importantly - winning the league.
Gundogan proved that forecast wrong by stepping up majestically over the second half of that season, while Stones has now become one of the finest footballers on the planet. Matheus Nunes and/or Mateo Kovacic may not reach that mantle but they may become better options over the course of the year if they are needed to fill in again for Rodri.
City's sporting director may find that there is an in-house solution but he will need to be on alert in case something is needed in the summer transfer window. The club cannot risk too many encores of a Rodri-less team.
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