Don't be surprise that manchester city will recover from thier form after this break, and of course manchester city is supposed to be in the top 4 of the table if not for there poor performance. But I think they still have the chance to make it up to the top 4 because the point differences isn't that much just a difference of 1 point, chelsea in the other side is not also in a good performance. So I think the performance of this 3 teams after this break will determine who will qualify for champions league next season.
Manchester City have full potentiality to get in top four and finish this season in top four at the season ending but they are weaker than previous season and currently they are in a very tight competition with many clubs for top four. This tightness of competition means there is no much space for mistakes and the season is no longer too long with many matches left for them to fix mistakes.
This season is going to its very last weeks and matches that decide ending rank of each club, and mistakes during this important phase will be paid with very expensive cost. Anyway with quality, experience and mentality of champion, I believe Manchester City will be able to handle this task well enough and a position in top four will belong to them in late of May.