Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged that he is in new territory following their 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Saturday, which was their fifth on the bounce.

But despite that, he was not going to hit the panic button, with his side second in the Premier League table and five points behind leaders Liverpool.

"We are fragile at the moment, we could not defend properly. We started well, struggled to score and then conceded. Then the situation is more difficult," he told Sky Sports after the match.

"I’ve been here as a player, maybe not as a manager, first three games at Barcelona we lost. [In the] last eight years, the results have been there, it would be a mistake to change the approach.

"There are no fairytales in life and sport, sometimes you have to live through these situations. You have to accept it. You can't blame each other, stay together, continue to do what we have done.

"Run away? Absolutely not, we have to stand up more than ever. What will define us is when we fail, we stand up and face it."

Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies at the club including each of the last four Premier League titles.

His side visit league leaders Liverpool next week and could trail them by eight points by the time kick-off comes, with Arne Slot's side playing a day after City this weekend.

"I don’t know what will happen this season, but not for one second will I not believe in these players," said Guardiola.

"There is no team in the world that can sustain success for eight, nine, 10 years in a row.

"Of course everything is not fine, but what we try to do is analyse it, let’s go to next game and see what happens."

On the individual performances of his players, Guardiola lamented the fitness issues that his side has faced in recent weeks.

"Chances were there. The moment they create the chances, the build-up, we couldn't handle the duels like normal. Now we're struggling a little bit," he told BBC Sport.

"It cannot happen. When you play top level teams, we can concede chances but it's part of process. In our situation it's a bit tougher.

"The players came back late [from international duty]. There were a few reasons we're not able to be consistent.

"Of course Rodri is important, but we knew that for many months. But [John] Stones can only play 45 minutes, Jack [Grealish] has been injured many times, Kevin [de Bruyne] two months and five months.

"We have to come back and freshen our minds. The season is so long, many things can happen."

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged that he is in new territory following their 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Saturday, which was their fifth on the bounce.

But despite that, he was not going to hit the panic button, with his side second in the Premier League table and five points behind leaders Liverpool.

"We are fragile at the moment, we could not defend properly. We started well, struggled to score and then conceded. Then the situation is more difficult," he told Sky Sports after the match.

"I've been here as a player, maybe not as a manager, first three games at Barcelona we lost. [In the] last eight years, the results have been there, it would be a mistake to change the approach.

"There are no fairytales in life and sport, sometimes you have to live through these situations. You have to accept it. You can't blame each other, stay together, continue to do what we have done.

"Run away? Absolutely not, we have to stand up more than ever. What will define us is when we fail, we stand up and face it."

Guardiola is by some distance City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies at the club, including each of the last four Premier League titles.

His side visit league leaders Liverpool next week and could trail them by eight points by the time kick-off comes, with Arne Slot's side playing a day after City this weekend.

"I don't know what will happen this season, but not for one second will I not believe in these players," said Guardiola.

"There is no team in the world that can sustain success for eight, nine, 10 years in a row.

"Of course, everything is not fine, but what we try to do is analyse it, let's go to next game and see what happens."

On the individual performances of his players, Guardiola lamented the fitness issues that his side has faced in recent weeks.

"Chances were there. The moment they create the chances, the build-up, we couldn't handle the duels like normal. Now we're struggling a little bit," he told BBC Sport.

"It cannot happen. When you play top level teams, we can concede chances but it's part of process. In our situation, it's a bit tougher.

"The players came back late [from international duty]. There were a few reasons we're not able to be consistent.

"Of course, Rodri is important, but we knew that for many months. But [John] Stones can only play 45 minutes, Jack [Grealish] has been injured many times, Kevin [de Bruyne] two months and five months.

"We have to come back and freshen our minds. The season is so long, many things can happen."

Ange Postecoglou heaped praise on James Maddison after he bagged a brace to help beat Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium. 
 
Maddison scored twice on his 28th birthday to give Spurs a 2-0 lead at half-time before Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson scored to hand the Premier League champions their fifth straight defeat across all competitions. 

The England international, who joined Tottenham from Leicester City last year, has now scored five goals and created three assists in the Premier League this season. 

"[Maddison] was outstanding," Tottenham boss Postecoglou told Sky Sports after the win. 

"You have to be against City, and Madders was great. He’s gone through a lean spell but I never doubted his ability. I thought the kind of game we were expecting would suit him.

"I thought we'd need his ability to keep the ball in tight midfield areas. I take it personally on myself if players aren't reaching their level, that’s on me to get him back up there."

With the win, Tottenham moved into sixth place and are only four points behind Pep Guardiola's side, who are in second place.

It was just the third time a team won away against the reigning Premier League champions by four goals or more. 

AC Milan and Juventus shared the spoils following a dour goalless draw at San Siro.

The Bianconeri maintained their unbeaten start to the Serie A season, but missed the chance to go second behind leaders Inter after a game lacking in quality and chances.

With the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik out injured, Juventus began the game without a recognised striker, as Teun Koopmeiners and Weston McKennie led the line.

Koopmeiners hit the side-netting from a tight angle after 10 minutes, while Kenan Yildiz grazed the post following a fine individual run midway through the half.

Alvaro Morata had Milan's best chance at the other end, but the former Juventus striker could only head wide from Rafael Leao's free-kick.

Opportunities did not fall as freely in the second half either, and both teams left the field to a chorus of boos on the referee's final whistle.

Data Debrief: Stubborn Juve take clean sheet tally into double figures

Juve are the first team to register 10 clean sheets in their opening 13 matches of a Serie A season since Roma (also 10) in 2013-14.

The Bianconeri have also kept five clean sheets in their first six away league games in a campaign for only the fourth time, also achieving the feat in 1967-68, 2004-05, 2023-24.

Meanwhile, Thiago Motta is only the fifth Juventus manager to go unbeaten in his first 13 league matches in charge (won six, drawn seven), after Jesse Carver, Cestmir Vycpalek, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.

Milan and Juventus shared the spoils following a dour goalless draw at San Siro.

The Bianconeri maintained their unbeaten start to the Serie A season, but missed the chance to go second behind leaders Inter after a game lacking in quality and chances.

With the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik out injured, Juventus began the game without a recognised striker, as Teun Koopmeiners and Weston McKennie led the line.

Koopmeiners hit the side-netting from a tight angle after 10 minutes, while Kenan Yildiz grazed the post following a fine individual run midway through the half.

Alvaro Morata had Milan's best chance at the other end, but the former Juventus striker could only head wide from Rafael Leao's free-kick.

Opportunities did not fall as freely in the second half either, and both teams left the field to a chorus of boos on the referee's final whistle.

Data Debrief: Stubborn Juve take clean sheet tally into double figures

Juve are the first team to register 10 clean sheets in their opening 13 matches of a Serie A season since Roma (also 10) in 2013-14.

The Bianconeri have also kept five clean sheets in their first six away league games in a campaign for only the fourth time, also achieving the feat in 1967-68, 2004-05, 2023-24.

Meanwhile, Thiago Motta is only the fifth Juventus manager to go unbeaten in his first 13 league matches in charge (won six, drawn seven), after Jesse Carver, Cestmir Vycpalek, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.

Diego Simeone said he is "calm and at peace" at Atletico Madrid after his side edged Deportivo Alaves 2-1 in LaLiga in his 700th game in charge of the club. 

Atletico went behind through a Jon Guridi penalty in the seventh minute, but Antoine Griezmann drew them level from the spot in the 76th minute. 

The winner came via Alexander Sorloth in the 86th minute as Atletico moved four points behind leaders Barcelona. 

Simeone, who has been in charge of Atletico since 2011, is the first coach to manage 700 matches with the same LaLiga club.

"I live in the present, we are having a good time, the boys are working very responsibly," Simeone told DAZN. 

"I am calm and at peace. I love where I am and that's it."

He managed Atletico to LaLiga title triumphs in 2014 and 2021 and also helped Los Rojiblancos win two Europa League titles in 2012 and 2018.

The game against Alaves was Simeone's 492nd LaLiga match in charge, and the Argentine has also managed the third-most games with a single club in the Champions League (109), after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

Manchester City's losing streak stretched to five games across all competitions as Tottenham stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.

On his 28th birthday, James Maddison scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Ange Postecoglou's visitors caught out their hosts on the counterattack.

Maddison was found unmarked at the far post by Dejan Kulusevski for his opener, then exchanged passes with Son Heung-min and dinked a fine finish over Ederson for his second.

City continued to dominate possession but struggled to find a killer pass, and their hopes of a second-half fightback were dashed when Pedro Porro – who spent three years as a City player between 2019 and 2022 – capped another lightning break early in the second half.

Erling Haaland clipped the crossbar but that was as close as City came to making it competitive, with Brennan Johnson completing the rout following fine work from Timo Werner, as the worst run of Pep Guardiola's managerial career continued.

Second-placed City could now find themselves eight points adrift of the summit after Liverpool’s trip to Southampton on Sunday.

Tottenham, meanwhile, climbed to sixth in the table, four points behind City.

Data Debrief: Uncharted territory for Pep

City have now lost five straight matches in all competitions, including two versus Tottenham after they were also beaten in the EFL Cup last month.

They are the first reigning top-flight English champions to lose five games in a row since Chelsea did so in March 1956.

This is the worst losing streak of Guardiola's glittering managerial career, with City last losing six in a row under Stuart Pearce in 2006.

Should their dismal run continue at Liverpool in eight days' time, their title defence may be in tatters before the festive season has even begun. 

Wolves boss Gary O'Neil believes his players are beginning to see a deserved reward for their hard work after a difficult start to the Premier League season.

Matheus Cunha's double caught the eye in their 4-1 win against Fulham, alongside goals from Joao Gomes and substitute Goncalo Guedes, as Wolves showed their attacking quality in equal measure to ease some of the tension surrounding O'Neil.

The opening months of the 2024-25 campaign have caused pressure to rise on O'Neil's position after they claimed just one point in their first eight games.

They have now claimed eight points in their last four league games and climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time this season with their victory at Craven Cottage.

O'Neil praised his players at full-time, referencing the battling qualities shown by the squad after key summer exits, and a run of form that could have seen them lose faith in him.

"It's probably one of my favourite performances in my time here as a coach. We knew this was going to be a really tough test with the players we were missing," he told BBC Sport.

"It's been a tough run overall, and we had a tough transfer window. Any team who loses its captain and one of its top players will always have to find a new way to do things in the following season.

"We were given a tough fixture list to start the season with, and the league position brings with it pressure and noise, and that was for us to deal with.

"That pressure also brought an opportunity for us to stand up and show who we are and every single one of them have done just that. We can enjoy this win, but there is still plenty of work to do."

Meanwhile, Fulham have lost three of their last six Premier League games (W2 D1), as many as in their previous 12 games in the competition (W5 D4).

Despite matching Wolves' 10 shots, and creating a similar expected goals (1.01 to Wolves' 1.26), Fulham struggled against their clinical opponents, especially while playing with 10 men following Joachim Andersen's injury, with no substitutions left.

"It was really weird game. That's the Premier League," Marco Silva told BBC Match of the Day. "It's easy for us to say we were really unfortunate. It was a situation [where we had to] play with 10 men without a red card.

"We can't just be looking at the score. The two goals when we were with 10 men didn't reflect the game, in my opinion."

Philippe Clement was left frustrated following Rangers' 1-1 draw with Dundee United, but acknowledged he "cannot ask much more" from his players.

The Gers dropped their first points at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership season, and could trail leaders Celtic by 11 if the Hoops beat Hearts later on Saturday.

Sam Dalby's 36th-minute header put the visitors in front, though Vaclav Cerny's smart finish levelled the contest midway through the second half.

The hosts pushed for the winning goal, with Ianis Hagi and Robin Propper denied by United goalkeeper Jack Walton later on.

Yet, despite over 70% of the possession and nine shots on target to their opponents' one, Clement's side were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.

"We need to reward ourselves, and we need to play like we played in the second half, 90 minutes long," he told Rangers TV. "Like that, you strangle teams like you did in the past, and that's the football I want to see.

"I cannot say anything about commitment in the second half, the team pushed until the last seconds to score a winner, and the goalkeeper made some excellent saves. The team was not rewarded in that way.

"It's frustrating to lose points in a game where you face one shot on target, and it's a goal. Last season, we won these games and, now, you lose points, so we need to get back to the level of before.

"They fought until the end. We had really good opportunities. You cannot ask much more, only to score the second goal. Then, you have a totally different feeling after the game."

Meanwhile, Jack Butland was left to rue what might have been, with the goalkeeper insisting he and his team-mates must up their game.

"It can't take until the second half to get going," he said. "We've got to be better. We've given away too many easy goals against teams that are just looking to hang onto something.

"It's not a great result at all. It feels like a loss. These games have got to be wins. It's not what the fans deserve from the game today. We need to do much more."

Unai Emery suggested Aston Villa "deserved more" than a point after coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Villa Park.

The result sees Villa's winless streak extend to six matches across all competitions (D2 L4), equalling their longest run without a victory under Emery (also six in April-May 2024).

After Ismaila Sarr's early opener, the hosts needed Ollie Watkins to pull them level before Ross Barkley cancelled out Justin Devenny's strike with 13 minutes to go.

Yet having seen a penalty saved and hitting the woodwork, Emery felt his team should have got more from the match.

"We deserved more, but we made some mistakes that we need to correct. We had chances to score, we came back. The penalty was a key moment," he told Sky Sports.

"In the second half, we pushed and felt close to scoring, but we have to accept one point."

Youri Tielemans had the opportunity to put Villa ahead on the stroke of half-time from the spot but placed his shot at a saveable height for Dean Henderson, who guessed the right way.

It allowed Palace to break down the other end through Sarr, who squared to Devenny to send the visitors into the lead just before the break.

Emery admitted his players are "concerned" about their vulnerability in transitions and rued the mistakes being made.

"Here at home, we were thinking how strong we were, winning 15 games in a row and how we can recover confidence, impose our gameplan. We are losing some opportunities. We are conceding a few chances for the opponent and making some mistakes," he told reporters.

"We are not getting three points but deserving here at home to win. We played well against Arsenal, Bournemouth, Man United and here. But we are making mistakes and they are punishing us.

"Overall we had more chances, we dominated the match. We have to correct matches where we play like we did today and get more points."

Villa led their opponents comfortably on expected goals (xG), accruing a total of 3.18 compared to Palace's 1.27.

The visitors also had key players Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton out, leading Oliver Glasner to be pleased with his side's fighting display.

"I'm very proud of the team's performance. We’re missing some key players in attack, but we still scored two amazing goals," he said.

"I'm very proud how they played together, worked together, fight together and believed in getting a point here.

"Overall, it was a good performance for us, and we go home very pleased with the point."

Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso was critical of his team's poor start in their 5-2 comeback victory over Heidenheim on Saturday.

The current Bundesliga champions went two goals down inside the opening 21 minutes at the BayArena, before battling back to hammer their visitors.

The teams went in level at half-time, while Patrik Schick completed a hat-trick in the second half to secure their second victory in seven league games.

"The first 20 minutes were hard, hard on the pitch and hard mentally," Alonso told a press conference.

"They bullied us in midfield. We could not find any good situations.

"We then managed to find better solutions after the break, and we were more stable. That was the key to the better second half."

Leverkusen are fourth in the Bundesliga, nine points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. They improved significantly after Heidenheim forward Marvin Pieringer was taken off injured in the 28th minute, having suffered due to his pace prior to that.

"We had a bit of a doubt at the start, it was too hectic, we were too nervous," he added.

"We could relax a bit during the break, and then we saw a much better second half, with more control and more stability. Mentally, we were much better."

Aside from their poor start, Alonso singled out Schick in particular for praise after the game, with his perfect hat-trick having helped win the match for the hosts.

Schick has now scored 3+ goals in a Bundesliga game on three occasions for Leverkusen - only Ulf Kirsten (seven) has done so more times for the club.

"It was a perfect hat-trick. It is so important for a striker to get into this rhythm, to have that feeling and with us having a lot of matches during this time," said Alonso.

Mikel Arteta insisted it was "not a coincidence" that Martin Odegaard's presence led Arsenal to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in one of their best performances of the season.

Arsenal's win was their 2,000th in English top-flight history, making them just the second side to reach this milestone after Liverpool (2,068).

Odegaard had been sidelined through injury since September with an ankle injury sustained while on international duty with Norway.

He returned to the starting line-up last time out against Chelsea and now has two assists from two since his return after setting up Bukayo Saka for the opener against Forest.

Arsenal ran out comfortable winners after Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri extended their lead and Arteta is confident the influence of his captain helped.

"It's not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when [Odegaard] is playing," he told BBC MOTD.

"I think we started really well. The sense I was getting in the last 48 hours after the international break, the boys coming together and were all at it.

"It was good to see the impact of the substitutes [Thomas Partey - goal; Ethan Nwaneri - goal; Raheem Sterling - assist]. Everyone has to feel important. It was a good afternoon."

Partey grabbed Arsenal's second just seven minutes after entering the pitch, curling into the left corner from outside the box following Arteta's half-time swap for Jorginho.

Four of Partey's seven Premier League goals have come from outside the box. Of all Arsenal players to score more than five goals in the competition, he’s the only one to net more than half from outside the box.

Arteta had particular praise for fellow goalscorer Nwaneri, who, at 17 years and 247 days, became Arsenal’s second youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer, behind only Cesc Fabregas in August 2004 (17y 113d).

"He is the second youngest [Premier League goalscorer] in our history. That's a story in itself. He's brave. You see the reaction of fans, and they were singing 'he's one of our own'," added the Arsenal boss.

"I think we have to put brick by brick and make sure the cement doesn't get dry. Hopefully, we can build a beautiful thing with him."

Arsenal outplayed their opponents, leading them on expected goals (xG) with a total of 1.4 compared to Forest's 0.4 xG.

"On a day like this, you need to be solid defensively and take your chances. Ultimately it was not good enough, and it was three relatively easy goals for them," James Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports.

"We are going to have to improve our defensive structure."

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was in fighting mode at full-time as he praised the Seagulls' "togetherness" in their 2-1 win away at Bournemouth.

Hurzeler's charges signed off for the international break with a 2-1 home victory over defending champions Manchester City, and they mirrored the scoreline at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday thanks to Joao Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma.

Despite his expansive and high-wire tactical approach receiving plenty of praise so far this season, it was Brighton's mental strength that caught the eye late on, after being reduced to ten players in the 59th minute through Carlos Baleba's red card.

It set up a nervy finale for the visitors, which included a 93rd-minute consolation goal from David Brooks and Antoine Semenyo smacking the bar, but the grit to get the result over the line pleased the Brighton manager.

"We have to see the performance from different viewpoints," he told Sky Sports. 

"From one side of things, it was not the best football game from ourselves, but it was a good game to prove our togetherness, to show we can suffer together and defend together - that's why I'm proud of my team.

"The other side is that we can play better football. In some moments, we were lucky, in some moments, Bournemouth were better. Of course, the red card changes the game for me. That's why I am proud. We can play better football.

"We also had really good moments, we tried to play our from the back even when the pressure was really high. That's why I was pleased with some moments, but not with the whole game."

Hurzeler was also left frustrated by Stuart Attwell's decision to dismiss Baleba for a second yellow card with the visitors 2-0 in front.

"It's a clear thing. It can't be a yellow card the second one, never ever," he added. "Hopefully the referee will look at this and make a decision, and they take back the yellow card, because honestly, that's never a yellow card."

Victory moves Brighton up to fifth in the Premier League table - their highest position since mid-October - with struggling Southampton next up for Hurzeler's side.