Pellegrini defends Man City away form: 'We've not been so bad'

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has claimed that his side have not performed too badly away from home this season, despite not having won in their last six matches away from the Etihad Stadium.

City are three points off the top of the Premier League table at the turn of the year but their season has been hampered by their poor form on the road; they have not won in their last six attempts, with three defeats and three goalless draws.

And while many fans have been left more than frustrated by the manner of some of the away performances this season - not least with heavy defeats at the hands of Tottenham and Stoke - Pellegrini believes there is not a singular underlying issue and has argued that performances have not been so bad.

“I don’t think it’s psychological," he replied at the suggestion. "You have to see every game why we didn’t win. Against Tottenham we played very well in the first half. We conceded two goals which were offside but it wasn’t a bad performance, although the result wasn’t what we wanted.

“Against Stoke we played very bad so you can’t win if you don’t play very well. Against Aston Villa I think we were very unlucky not to win, against Manchester United was a very close game as normal and was a good draw and the last game against Leicester I don’t think we played badly.

“So if you tell me how happy I am with the results of the six games...," he added, before tailing off and shrugging. "But if you ask me how happy I am about the performance - Stoke the complete game and the second half of Tottenham, I think the other games we didn’t do bad.”

City head into the New Year three points behind Arsenal and surprise package Leicester City, and kick off the second half of their season against Watford, who have also compounded expectations to sit ninth in the standings thanks in no small part to the attacking exploits of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo.

Tottenham are just one point behind Pellegrini's men in the table while Crystal Palace occupy fifth position, and while many have praised the unpredictable nature of the division this time around, it has been suggested that quality is at an all-time low.

Pellegrini, however, does not share that view: "It’s difficult to analyse it and put the word ‘worst’," he said. "Maybe it’s the cloest Premier League. Maybe the other teams have a lot of money to bring in good players and all the squads have important players, that’s why the difference is not so big.

"It’s more interesting with six or seven teams involved in the title than when you have just one team that has eight or nine points when you finish the first round in front of the other teams.

"I don’t think it’s the worst Premier League – it’s a very close Premier League and that’s different."

Pellegrini's side started the season in fine fettle, winning their first five matches without conceding a goal, but have suffered heavy defeats to Spurs, Liverpool and Stoke, and were also beaten by Arsenal before Christmas, leaving them trailing the leaders at the half-way stage.

And given how competitive the season has been for the first 19 matches, the Chilean believes the eventual champions will finish some way short of Chelsea's record points tally of 95.

"I said some weeks ago that you never know what can happen in the future but the team that wins the first round will do it with less than 40 points," he added.

"You never know what can happen. Maybe one team will be successful in the second round and have 57 points, but [overall] it must around 80 points."