Phil Foden believes Manchester City have a target on their back this season and that they are struggling to match the intensity teams are showing against them.

The 24-year-old admits he is going through a learning curve this year, with City enduring a slump that has already all but wrecked their ambitions of winning a fifth succcessive Premier League crown, with Foden now conceding the title is out of reach.

City have won only four of their last 17 games in all competitions. They are 12 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League, with Arne Slot's side having a game in hand.

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Slot had said this week that City were still in the hunt, but their latest collapse, throwing away a two-goal lead at Brentford with eight minutes remaining, has seen Foden rule out a charge to the top of the table.

Despite those struggles, he is finding some form personally and believes performances are improving, but this season is one he is taking plenty from mentally, describing it as the most valuable campaign of his career when it comes to his development.

"I think I've learned the most from this season, to be honest," he said. "I've not been in this situation before where I've lost this many games and been in this situation.

"So it's a learning curve, and it's just about how you get back to your best, not just me, but the team as well. And how we come back from this. I believe, I still believe in the team, you know, I still believe we can do good things.

"It’s about getting back on the training pitch and having that belief, to keep going, don’t give up."

As the dominant team of the Premier League era, City are a scalp for every side they play, but Foden has noticed just how desperate the opposition are to beat them this season.

That is unlikely to have altered this campaign and suggests that Pep Guardiola's side are struggling to exert their usual suffocating control and games and that they are now feeling the energy in the opposition more than they have done in recent campaigns.

"The start is that everyone wants to beat us," Foden said when asked what he had learnt this season.

"We've been the best in the last few seasons and when we face opponent we can just see how much they're up for it. And we have to try and match that, if not better it, and we're coming up a little bit short at the moment.

"I think that's been the challenge this year, how everyone adapts to have our playing style and that’s made it really difficult. That's one of the things I've learned."

City's recent struggles have forced the club into the transfer market in January, with deals agreed for Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov and Brazilian teenage centre-back Vitor Reis. There remain in negotiations with Eintracht Frankfurt for forward Omar Marmoush.

Guardiola admitted on Monday that he rejected the chance to start rebuilding the squad last summer, but results and performances have forced him into the winter market, and Foden is confident that some new faces will help the group.

"Definitely, we've not got the biggest squad and it seems like a lot of the lads have struggled with niggles this season as well," he said. "So, yeah, it can only help us in a way, so looking forward to it."