Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City's defeat is more than just about mounting injuries.

City's defeat pushed them down to the second spot, with Liverpool once again claiming the top spot after a hard-fought victory over Brighton & Hove Albion with a score of 2-1. City is now trailing Liverpool by just two points in the standings.

“I don’t know what would have happened. I would like to tell you if these players (weren’t injured), we would have won, but nobody knows,” Guardiola said. “The guys give everything, but not enough to compete against that team in that moment.”

City’s loss came on the heels of a midweek defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup fourth round.

On Nov 1, Guardiola said he had urged his stars to play through pain “like Rafael Nadal” and feared he might have only 11 senior players fit to feature in the Bournemouth game.

City were already missing Jack Grealish, Rodri and Oscar Bobb and in his pre-game interview Guardiola said Ruben Dias and John Stones were also “ruled out for a little bit of long time.”

Captain Kyle Walker was one of several players who had not been expected to feature on Saturday but started, while Kevin De Bruyne was back on the bench after a lengthy injury layoff.

“Kyle in 16 days didn’t train one session with us, made an incredible effort,” Guardiola said, adding that several other players had “niggles.”

“(But) it’s not just about that,” the City boss added. “They (Bournemouth) were difficult to play in the first half, the second half we were much better.”