Man City’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa highlighted creativity problems as well as inability to control counter-attacks

Manchester City were beaten at Villa Park last season as well but if that defeat was a surprise, the most alarming thing about this 2-1 reverse to Aston Villa is that it was almost expected. Villa were stronger, quicker and better organised.

Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers have real quality with the ball at their feet but the two Aston Villa scorers also epitomise the physicality that appears utterly absent from City's game right now. They not only appear weak but also sluggish with it.

That was evident in the first seconds of the match when John McGinn dispossessed Josko Gvardiol, Duran almost repeating the feat with Stefan Ortega in a second half in which Aston Villa convincingly outplayed the reigning Premier League champions.

City looked vulnerable to the counter-attack throughout, as has become the new normal for this team. But trying to explain away this dip in form due to Rodri's absence is no longer viable when there are so many aspects of their game failing to function.

This Manchester City are not creating enough chances.

"We've scored a goal," chanted the City supporters, sarcastically, when Phil Foden pulled one back late on. Rival fans are unlikely to be too sympathetic about the plight of the reigning champions four times over just yet but they do have something of a point.

City have scored only 10 goals in their last nine Premier League games over a period now dating back two months. Incredibly, only Leicester, Everton and Southampton have scored fewer in that time. All this from a team that still boasts Erling Haaland up front.

The Norwegian is taking the responsibility for that scoring slump on his own shoulders. "I am looking at myself first, I haven't been scoring my chances. I have to do better because it is not good enough." It is now two goals in eight Premier League games.

"I do not agree with him," said Pep Guardiola when Haaland's comments were put to him after the game. "Without him, we would be even worse." Having recently pointed out that the cover options for Haaland are Phil Foden and Oscar Bobb, he is surely right.

And it is not quite as simple as Haaland's finishing going haywire. His 13 goals this season have come from an expected-goals total of 13.21. In other words, he is slightly underperforming based on the quality of chances coming his way - but not by much.

The bigger difference compared to previous seasons is that Haaland is not getting the opportunities he once was. His expected-goals total of 0.78 per 90 minutes is high but not as high as last season (1.03) or the season before (0.92). That is a particular worry.

City's attacking play is now so reliant on feeding Haaland, even if he touches the ball so rarely that it sometimes might not seem that way. There was a time when the team's wingers weighed in with lots of goals themselves. Now they are supposed to supply him.

As a strategy, that has brought two more Premier League titles as well as the Champions League that City craved. But it does follow that they have become a little more predictable. There are not quite so many different ways that they can hurt teams now.

Riyad Mahrez scored 15 goals in his final season for City, 24 in the year before that. When the Algerian cut inside and prepared to fire off a shot, the crowd anticipated a goal. When Jack Grealish did the same against Aston Villa, he almost hit the corner flag.

Grealish, who had space in which to work against his former club but failed to take advantage, has not scored for City in over a year. Savinho is still waiting for his first City goal. Raheem Sterling used to bag plenty of easy goals at the back post. No more.

Haaland may have only two goals in his last eight Premier League games, but no team-mate has outscored him in that time. Gvardiol is the only other player to have found the net more that once. The defender's contributions are no mere welcome addition but essential now.

No longer scoring enough, no longer creating enough. How has this happened? The way to stop them has become too obvious. At Villa, it was clear that Unai Emery's team were relatively comfortable with City in front of them, slowly moving the ball from side to side.

They need to move it quicker and they need the off-the-ball movement. Ilkay Gundogan was once a master at that but it is difficult to expect a 34-year-old midfielder to continue making those bursts beyond the back line. Bernardo Silva looks tired too.

The result is that while both Guardiola and Emery pointed to the period in the first half during which City did seem to be building some momentum, the upshot is that they still did not create enough chances to deserve anything from this game. Again.

An expected-goals total of 1.03 highlights that this is not an aberration caused by poor finishing. City scored exactly the number of goals at Villa that their creativity warranted - as was the case when beaten 2-1 by Manchester United (expected goals: 0.95).

It is the first time this season that City have created so little in back-to-back games and raises an alarming thought for Guardiola that they might be getting worse. And how can he hope to make this team more creative when they are already conceding too many?

"I have to find the solution, the balance to create chances." The fear is that with the loss of one key player and the passage of time robbing him of a few others, he is left with a team that is no longer capable of functioning as it should. At both ends of the pitch.