Three things we learned – Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea

Manchester City conceded a last minute equaliser to managerless Chelsea to ensure they only came out with a point from a game they largely dominated in the Premier League.

Enzo Fernandez bundled the ball in at the backpost in the fourth minute of injury time to earn his side a smash and grab that their second half showing perhaps suggested would come.

Tijjani Reijnders had given City the lead in a first half that they dominated, but the second half was extremely sloppy from Pep Guardiola’s side, particularly in the final third, and they were made to pay for it late on to continue their winless start to 2026.

Here are three things we learned from the draw with Chelsea:

Additional recruitment is required in January

Manchester City are down to the bare bones now, as four injuries have struck in the first four days of 2026.

Nico Gonzalez and Savinho were absent from the squad against Chelsea after going off against Sunderland, to add to the existing injuries for Oscar Bobb, Mateo Kovacic and John Stones.

Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri continue to be absent as they represent their countries at the Africa Cup of Nations, whilst the likes of Rodri and Jeremy Doku have only just returned from injuries, with the former in particular needing his minutes managed if he’s to maintain his fitness in the long term.

And Guardiola has confirmed that whilst Nico is fit again, the injuries picked up by Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol against Chelsea were severe.

Dias should be out for just over a month with a muscle injury, whilst Gvardiol will be lucky to feature again this season after fracturing his tibia following a challenge from former City player Cole Palmer.

The board reacted promptly by recalling 20-year-old centre back Max Alleyne from his loan spell at Watford, whilst reputable transfer journalists Sami Mokbel and Fabrizio Romano claim that City will push to sign Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi this window, rather than for a free in the summer.

On top of the expected arrival of Antoine Semenyo after the midweek round of fixtures, City will hope that by bolstering their squad with the arrival of Alleyne and potentially Guehi will give them enough to keep up the pressure on Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.

Foden and Cherki need a rest

Arguably City’s two worst performers against Calum MacFarlane’s side were Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden, who have both been very good in the last month or so.

Both made plenty of poor decisions with the ball, particularly in the final third, which eventually led to Chelsea being able to get more of a grip of the game and find their equaliser.

Guardiola has received a fair bit of criticism from supporters for whatever reason after the game, but one mistake I did think he made was to take off the much fresher looking Reijnders for Jeremy Doku whilst Foden and Cherki played the full 90.

The Exeter game at the weekend, as well as the return to fitness of Doku and impending arrival of Semenyo means City will be able to afford them a rest soon, so they can return to form looking a bit fresher.

Brighton is now an exceptionally important game

City now have to stop the mini slump against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad in midweek and restore a positive morale around the club.

Plenty of players – namely Foden, Cherki and Nico O’Reilly, are going to have to play through a bit of pain and fatigue before getting a rest against Exeter on Saturday.

City can’t go into that game off the back of three winless games in a row; they’ll have fallen further behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race and pressure will be on to win, and Guardiola therefore may be less inclined to want to rotate.

Three points against the Seagulls means City will remain within a reasonable distance of Arsenal at the top of the table and will restore a bit of confidence, as well as allowing Guardiola to use the Exeter game as a chance for rest and rotation.