This season of the English Premier League has been utterly unprecedented. We are halfway through the season and surprisingly, only 8 points separate Manchester City and the 7th placed Everton.
Guardiola’s men defeated West Brom 5-0 to take the top spot from neighbours Manchester United who lost a game in the English Premier League for the first time since November 1.
They are now the 9th side to top the table this season, the most in a single Premier league campaign since 1986. But the tides could now turn soon. Manchester City’s form has been excellent and they are now the team with the longest unbeaten run in Europe’s top 5 leagues (11 games).
Guardiola’s biggest problem—having a solid central defence pairing— seems to have been sorted. Manchester City is yet to concede a single goal when their first team keeper Ederson, Ruben Dias, and John Stones have been on the pitch at the same time. Ruben Dias has proved to be an exceptional addition after City’s initial woes. The team has witnessed a whopping 15 clean sheets in the 23 games, Dias conceding only 9 goals.
Moreover, every single player for the blues seems to have hit the form at the right time. 8 different players have scored goals for Manchester City in the Premier League in January.
Adding to this, signs of instability in other clubs too could help City’s cause. Manchester United possibly played their worst game this season against Sheffield United, Liverpool defeated Spurs but they have lost 3 and drawn 1 game out of the 6 games in January. Spurs have had an on and off campaign, now having lost to Liverpool. Chelsea and Arsenal are far too behind to be a problem any time soon. Leicester look promising but their lack of squad depth could prove costly in the long run.
A 100% run in the upcoming month could be all that Manchester City need to place one hand on the title and they do have the squad depth to face challenges rising out of the Champions League which resumes midway this month.
We could see Manchester City run away with their 7th Premier League title, also adding to their manager Pep Guardiola’s exceptional trophy tally.