Premier League 2018/19: 3 reasons for Manchester City's recent failures this season

#3 Lack of effective defensive midfielder in Fernandinho's absence

Manchester City is over-reliant on Fernandinho

Over the years, Manchester City has spent a huge sum of money on creative talents. They score a staggering amount of goals every game and their creativity is a joy to watch.

However, the Premier League Champions are over-reliant on the under-rated Fernandinho. In 115 appearances for the Brazilian during the Pep Guardiola period, Manchester City have won 71.3% of their matches in comparison to just 59.3% from the 27 matches he has missed.

Fernandinho, for all his services for Manchester City in the last few seasons, was a key piece in their puzzle and still is. However, he is not getting younger and at 33, he is clearly far from his peak. He doesn't have an alternative as the Champions fail to land Jorginho in the Transfer market.

Fabian Delph occasionally does a good job but he is not world-class. He was the weak link in City's last game as Leicester City exploited his ineffectiveness. Moreover, he got sent-off and a 10-men Manchester City was unable to score a late equalizer.

While the likes of Sergio Busquets, Casemiro and N'Golo Kante are having a huge impact in big matches and dominating in crunch times, it's time for Manchester City to invest in a world-class defensive midfielder to take the pressure off the Brazilian.