Gareth Taylor addresses Man City form ahead of League Cup semi-final against Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor has addressed his team's form ahead of Thursday's Subway League Cup semi-final clash against Arsenal.

City have been hit and miss so far in 2025, with league defeats against Manchester United and Arsenal in recent weeks. However, they did knock United out of the League Cup and Ipswich Town out of the FA Cup, while also picking up a WSL comeback win against Aston Villa.

That said, there is no escaping that league results against the top clubs have cost City dearly. For the majority of the first half of the season, Taylor's side were Chelsea's closest competitors in the title race, but the recent dip now places them fourth in the standings, 12 points behind the leaders.

A stumble in the title race arguably places more emphasis on the cup competitions this season, with City still in with a shout of winning the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League. They have a huge opportunity to reach a third domestic final under the current boss if they beat Arsenal this week.

"We're competing against teams who are rivals in the top four," Taylor told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday, when asked about his team's current form. "Those games aren't easy.

"Of course, we don't help ourselves when we make some fundamental errors. In both of those games [against United and Arsenal] we didn't make the best of starts, but the personality, character and fight back shown in both of those games was top.

"It's fine margins, particularly when you look at the overall stats. It was a very even game [against Arsenal] and we've come out of it on the wrong side of a result.

"We felt we could have been better, both with and without the ball. But still, there wasn't too much in it."

Man City are coming off a WSL defeat to Arsenal / Visionhaus/GettyImages

One player that has stood out for City in recent weeks is attacker Mary Fowler. In the absence of Lauren Hemp and Khadija Shaw, the 21-year-old has scored in their last two fixtures against Arsenal and Aston Villa.

The Australia international joined City from French side Montpellier in 2022, but has already matched and improved on her best ever goal scoring season for City with eight goals across all competitions so far with a little over four months left to go.

“It’s probably more confidence levels with Mary,” Taylor continued. “She’s a talented player and her game understanding has improved a lot.

“Having a team that plays to her strengths, regardless of the position she plays. We’ve also probably found her true position now in the wide areas, where we feel she can really make an impact on this team.

“She’s certainly done that over the last few games.”