Manchester City's fall shows no sign of stopping after defeat at Villa Park saw them tumble to seventh in the Premier League.

It's now nine defeats from their last 12 games in all competitions for a team that topped the league table in early November and their horrendous run shows no sign of ending with their injury situation still grave. The Blues welcome Everton to the Etihad on Boxing Day before travelling to Leicester three days later as they look to turn their form around.

Pep Guardiola took as many positives as he could from their 2-1 defeat in the Midlands on Saturday but accepts that there can be no defence of their current results. As out-of-offices go on around the country, it is still a busy time at the City Football Academy.

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Christmas Day session

Unlike in recent years, there will be no Christmas Day off for the players and staff. That isn't a reflection of the different form the team are in or a punishment for it, simply the reality of them playing at lunchtime on Boxing Day.

The early kick-off is notoriously a difficult one for all players to get up for and City need to make sure they are as prepared as they can be to try to break down an Everton defence that has kept Arsenal and Chelsea quiet in their last two matches. Guardiola has called for more time on the training ground to try and rectify the errors in his team, and he has at least had an extended stretch with five days between Villa and Everton.

Whether it makes a difference will only become apparent on Boxing Day though. As Guardiola said of the two days off he had given the players in the week before the Villa match: "If we win yes [it's good], if we don’t win then it’s 'why don’t you train?'”

Transfer talks

As well as preparing his team for the Christmas fixtures, Guardiola will also be across the work led by Txiki Begiristain to find a solution to their problems in the January window. City do not like doing business in this window and will find it difficult to again with clubs not as willing to sell and players potentially not as willing to move.

City have also lost for the time being their biggest selling points of consistently challenging for trophies; anyone coming in will be under real pressure to make the kind of instant impact that turns the crisis around. However, the club have to spend the month exploring every option.

News that Bruno Guimaraes and Martin Zubimendi will not be coming in January disappointed many fans, and as Begiristain prepares to leave his post he is also under scrutiny for his legacy to be a positive one of a squad that has started to be rebuilt rather than one that has collapsed on his watch. With the injury situation still as bad as it was two months ago, the need to spend to bring in new players has increased.

Viana plan

Begiristain will be leading City's recruitment until he leaves his post after the Club World Cup, so he will be responsible for shaping not just the winter window but also the summer one. However, Hugo Viana's responsibilities will increase as he builds up towards taking over.

The Sporting chief will only start part-time from February, but plans are already being made up at the club to ensure Viana acclimatises as quickly as possible to his new role so that he can know every detail of what the squad needs and what is possible to do when.

City have made a good job of replacing their best players in recent years, but now have to show they can replace the people who made that happen. As much as Begiristain is looking to the next two windows, City have to look well beyond that.