Seven games, no clean sheets. It won’t quite be keeping Pep Guardiola up all night just yet, but there is a newly-discovered defensive sloppiness to Manchester City. Nothing to rival the leaky defence across their fair city, but Guardiola has preached a mantra of defensive certainty that enables attacking fluidity. One can easily be undermined by the other.

Hoffenheim, Bournemouth, Watford and Everton were all teams of far lesser standing than City who were afforded a foothold, and you can add Leicester City to that same list. Marc Albrighton’s equaliser was not disastrous to City’s EFL Cup qualification thanks to some of the worst penalties you could wish to see, but the nature of victory may prove annoying for their manager.

Manchester City should have been away and clear at the King Power. Kevin de Bruyne produced the only magic of a low-key, low-intensity first half, and they immediately reverted into control mode. But control can just as easily be ceded as grasped. Guardiola twice held his arms out in perturbed disbelief, as if coming back home to discover that the dog had destroyed the lounge furniture.

Guardiola’s other dance move was turning his head in disgust, as if unable to stomach such panic in possession. This was the chance for certain fringe players to make their mark, and few did so effectively. The honourable exception was Oleksandr Zinchenko, who on this showing is unfortunate that his manager prefers the stability of Fabian Delph to let Leroy Sane fly.

If injuries to key players have caused Guardiola a number of recent headaches, they inadvertently handed him a stronger than usual EFL Cup team. Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero were not sufficiently fit to start the home game against Everton on Saturday, but that was only to Leicester’s loss. Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and Riyad Mahrez were other first-team regulars included. Only De Bruyne really excelled of that crop.

Guardiola might not have bothered had he seen the Leicester side selected by Claude Puel. There were seven changes to the team that lost at Crystal Palace, but the lack of James Maddison from the starting XI and Jamie Vardy from the matchday squad were the standout disappointments.

Fear not, when Hamza Choudhury plays with the sort of intensity that Leicester supporters believe has been far too lacking under Puel this season. The 21-year-old was a one-man midfield wrecking ball, repeatedly haring back into this own third of the pitch to win back the ball. After two seasons in the Championship, Choudhury is surely ready for his first Premier League appearance of this season. Leicester have too often missed his spark and hunger.

Leicester’s substitutions changed the game’s course, but Manchester City assisted their climb. Otamendi is still able to bring panic to any defence at the drop of a hat, Kyle Walker was panicked by Demarai Gray’s speed and dribbling and Stones is nowhere near the perfect holding midfielder that Guardiola might like him to be. Phil Foden started brightly, but faded in performance and energy as the match wore on. Aguero was extremely rusty for a player who has not missed much football.

But it is that general lack of intensity that gives opposition sides hope that is most annoying to Guardiola. It will linger at the back of the manager’s mind like a stinging credit card statement that is due to drop on the mat in early January.

Perhaps it is due to the complacency that comes from winning so many games by such a comfortable margin. If so, Guardiola will make it his mission to stamp it out. Complacency is a short step from arrogance, and pride comes before a fall. Given Liverpool’s brilliance, City cannot afford falls.

Daniel Storey