Pep Guardiola saw his Manchester City team beaten 3-1 by Antonio Conte's rampant Chelsea in Saturday's crunch clash at the top of the Premier League.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss - who has developed a penchant for constantly changinghis lineup and system from match to match - set his side up in an ambitious 3-4-2-1 formation and theSunhave nowreported a stat that shows the true extent of his tinkering.
Catalan newspaper Sport say Chelsea are the 'worst enemy' of Pep Guardiola. pic.twitter.com/48dkrlD14J
The numbers show that Guardiola has made a staggering 46 changes to his starting lineup in just 14 Premier League matches thus far this season, which is by far the most in the division.
Struggling Swansea are next up in terms ofchanges, but with 34, they have still made 12 less alterations than City - this is despite the fact the Swanshave gone through a managerial change, with Bob Bradley replacing Francesco Guidolin in October.
Fellow strugglers Sunderland and West Ham United are next on the list, with 33 and 32 changes respectively, and City fans may be concerned their manager is exhibiting behaviour usually reserved for relegation battlers desperately searching for solutions.
Manchester City's porous defence strikes again. Kept clean sheets against just four opponents since Pep Guardiola took charge. #MCICHE
Guardiola is famed for his meticulous planning and willingness to innovate in orderto gain any advantage he can over the opposition, but regular midweek games have limited his opportunities to convey his new ideas and systems to his players.
The consequence has been some patchy form - especially at home - and a leaky defence; City's undoubtedly talented squad have been tasked with adapting to a new footballing philosophy and Guardiola's array of formations with a limited time to prepare for each game.
Full time: Chelsea's last 8 games:
8 Wins
6 Clean Sheets
2 Goals Conceded
22 Goals#MCICHEhttps://t.co/4BOycae0ZA pic.twitter.com/wMXyEWfCoU
By contrast, Antonio Conte's Chelsea have made the least lineup changes in the league, with just eight.
While undoubtedlyaided by a lack of midweek football and remaining relatively injury-free, the Blues resurgence has sprung from a largely settled team in the Italian's favoured 3-4-3 formation.
The system has seen Chelsea win their last eight league matches, conceding just three goals in the process, with the Blues' players seemingly much more attuned to the demands of their intense manager already.