Pep Guardiola has already hinted at wildcard Man City solution to current problems

One of the issues facing Pep Guardiola at the moment is that every possible solution to a Manchester City problem has a domino effect, potentially causing a separate conundrum elsewhere on the pitch.

For a tactical mind at the level and intensity of Guardiola's, finding the right combination of pieces to produce a performance to build on will keep him up at night.

The defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday wasn't the most disastrous of this seven-game run without a win. In fact, it was far from it, but City did look like a team who had lost their identity. In trying to be more defensive, they have lost any kind of fluency in attack, for starters.

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Their approach to scoring on Sunday was confusing. Guardiola has shown his versatility in moving from a false nine to perhaps the purest No. 9 in Europe, but in doing so, City have gradually gone from a team that shares the goals to one that relies almost completely on one player.

The stat doing the rounds before kick-off at Anfield that revealed nobody aside from Erling Haaland had scored a league goal for City this season felt damning, and with the Norwegian on the periphery against Liverpool, nobody else looked like scoring. But then producing a system that had Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis in support of Haaland gave away a defensive game plan.

It's now reached the stage where Guardiola has moved around so many players and tinkered with positions that it's hard to remember the starting point. The team looks unbalanced and narrow, with Nunes failing to offer any width from the left and little attacking threat down that side without Josko Gvardiol, while Kyle Walker struggled to stretch the play on the right.

City's midfield was full of technicians, but none of them saw enough of the ball to influence proceedings. While Guardiola picked a defensive team, he had Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku and Savinho on the bench, eventually unleashing all four of them.

Guardiola felt the second half gave City something to build on ahead of Wednesday's fixture with Nottingham Forest. As they look for a first win since the end of October, there is an argument to go back to basics. City need goals, and they need more players in support of Haaland. That means playing with two more natural wingers and at least one attacking player centrally.

City require more of a goal threat on the pitch. Doku, Savinho, and Phil Foden have yet to hit top gear this season, but two of them should start in wide areas. Then there is a need for more creativity centrally, which De Bruyne could provide if he is fit to start games. Perhaps the most intriguing solution came in a throwaway line from Guardiola in his post-match press conference on Sunday.

As he discussed the physical midfield battle against Liverpool, he also touched on a potential solution in that area: "Jack in the middle I'm thinking he can help us to have that control and vision in the final third.."

Grealish has rarely had a chance to play in an attacking midfield position for City, having become accustomed to drifting in off the left, but there's no doubt that at his best, he can control games from that role. He did that for England against Ireland in Dublin in September.

According to Transfermarkt, of his 138 City games, just six have come in central positions, including that late cameo at Liverpool yesterday. He's also started just once for the club since October 5.

But Grealish has not only the technical and creative ability to improve City's attacking threat, but also the character and on-pitch personality to make a difference. That is something that could be vital at the moment, adding in a player who can lighten the mood and bring freshness to a group of players who look worn down.

Predicting the team Guardiola picks on Wednesday night feels almost impossible, but the man himself has hinted that he is considering a new role for Grealish. That could be a solution that works.