Following Sunday’s goalless draw with Arsenal, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola conceded that the Premier League title race is “not in our hands.”Guardiola declared Liverpool the favorites to end his team’s run of three straight titles, but with nine games remaining in the season, City is only one point behind Arsenal and three behind the leaders. The PA news agency examines the current state of the title race here.
What took place this past weekend? As they attempt to provide Jurgen Klopp with the ideal farewell, Liverpool overcame a goal deficit to defeat Brighton 2-1 and took the lead.
A few hours later, a bore draw at the Etihad Stadium gave the Merseysiders a boost. Prior to the most recent round of games, Arsenal was unbeaten, but after neutralizing City’s attackers, they would have been the happier of the two teams.
Following the game, Guardiola declared, “Whoever is first is favourite.” Arsenal is the second favorite, and we are in third place.
Was Guardiola right?Perhaps, but that was a long way from him raising the white flag in their attempt to win a record-breaking fourth league title in a row. The only teams to accomplish a quadruple to date are Huddersfield, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United.With their track record of being strong finishers, City will probably need to be nearly flawless to beat Liverpool and Arsenal.
While City was five points behind Arsenal at the same point in the previous season, they were able to catch up and eventually pass them.
What’s changed since then, if anything? Prior to Arsenal’s collapse at the end of the season, City still had a game against them, which they won 4-1 at home.
Having already played both Liverpool and Arsenal twice, City can win all nine of their remaining games and still lose this time.Throughout the Guardiola era, Liverpool has been the biggest obstacle for City, dropping them to second place in 2019–20—remarkably, their only loss in six seasons.
Is winning all that Liverpool needs to do now? It would come as a huge surprise if it proved to be that easy, and that is no slight on Liverpool’s composure as they have repeatedly shown their mettle under Klopp.
Nonetheless, there are a few challenging games left, including trips to Everton on April 24 and Manchester United on Sunday, which are rivals in the Northwest. The pressure will only increase.Up until the end of the season, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s team must both travel to Tottenham. City will next take on Villa, the team that defeated them, on Wednesday.
An additional distracting factor might be the fact that all three teams—Liverpool in the Europa League, City and Arsenal in the Champions League—are still vying for European championships.
Thus, there will be many more turns and twists?Probably in the worst case scenario.The Reds were nowhere to be seen in 2020 when it mattered most, so even though they had the upper hand, they have never had City breathing down their necks.In their rivalry, Guardiola will undoubtedly not want Klopp to come out on top, as City has demonstrated that they enjoy being the hunters, even though they haven’t been playing at their best lately.
As demonstrated by their draw on Sunday following City’s thumping a year ago, Arsenal is also a formidable opponent and appears to be a stronger team than the one that folded last season.