Their squad depth is not as good as before - especially in defence. Savinho is not very good as a winger - while City also lack balance in midfield without a good defensive midfielder. Pep Guardiola can't force De Bruyne to perform like he used to - Foden isn't at his best either. Haaland was less than optimal due to a lack of creativity on the wings and midfield - so everything changed compared to the previous season.
In addition to the decline in performance, Pep's strategy can actually be read perfectly by Arni Slot. He understands very well how Pep implements the strategy, especially on 1st half. As we can see how the 1st goal created, Mohammed Salah was unguarded at the moment, even Salah is a top scorer but he is not separated from the defender's observation. It's the same on 2nd goal, the city defender repeats the same thing, Salah, and Szoboszlai still missed their surveillance, and create a nice collaboration on front for 2nd goal. That strange strategy Arni implemented 4-2-2-2, this making mess The city player when Luiz Diaz, and Jones looming them on the other side.
The point is that Pe Gaurdiola strategy is outdated, even Arteta strategy is the same because both carry a similar game philosophy. So don't expect to be able to catch up with Liverpool in the standings. The difference is quite far and Arsenal will not be able to catch up. Arne Slot is very observant and knows Pep Guardiola game system very well and with Arne ingenuity he is able to close every movement of the Man City players so that they cannot do more on the field. In yesterday match Man City may have dominated the match but it was just empty talk when they were unable to score a goal. Arne Slot only needed 3 to 5 touches and then a goal was created. No need to pass the ball here and there for a pass and waste time for no reason.