Manchester City is battling at the top again, which is no surprise…
Following a 2017-2018 campaign in which they obliterated the competition to win the Premier League title by a whopping 19 point margin with a goal differential of +79, Manchester City has a real dog fight on their hands with Liverpool coming down the stretch run of what has turned out to be a magnificent race for the crown of England’s top flight division.
With a winter lull that saw the Sky Blues drop points to Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Newcastle, the Pep Guardiola lead side have found some of their early season form as of late, stringing together nine successive PL victories, though not in the fashion many had wished to see from a side as capable as City.
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This season has proven to be a war of attrition for the squad as they compete for an unthinkable quadruple, already having added hardware to the trophy case with a penalty shootout victory against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Final and an FA Cup Final clash with Watford on the horizon at Wembley Stadium.
The latter two trophies of the quad, however, will offer City a more significant challenge on their road to legendary status, as they already find themselves in a 1-0 hole against Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-final draw of the Champions League and Liverpool applying the pressure on their bid for back-to-back Premier League titles, sitting atop the table by 2 points currently.
Being stretched across so many competing for competitions, one does have to ask themselves this late in the season if a Premier League repeat for City is truly in the cards. They would be the first to do so since their cross-town rivals Manchester United completed a sweep of three consecutive PL titles from 2006 to 2009.
All things considered, Manchester City has dealt with a number of key injuries this year, losing star midfielders Kevin De Bruyne and Fernandinho for stretches at a time, as well as left-back Benjamin Mendy who performed so spectacularly in the early stages of the season. Despite these setbacks which might otherwise disable a less potent squad, City has kept pace with Liverpool (or vice versa depending on how you look at it), speaking to the quality and quantity of their depth.
Portuguese international Bernardo Silva has emerged as one of Pep’s preferred choices on game day, as he can deploy his talents like a Swiss Army knife out on the wing or through the midfield, mimicking much of the finesse and vision that we’ve come to expect from the tenured David Silva.
Raheem Sterling has taken his game and leadership to a new level this season, accounting for 17 goals and 9 assists across 27 appearances, all the while Sergio Agüero maintains his reputation as one of the league’s most potent strikers with 19 goals in 26 appearances. A spoil of riches to say the least, and that’s not even mentioning the contributions of Leroy Sané (9 goals, 10 assists) or offseason transfer signing and 2015-2016 PFA Player of the Year, Riyad Mahrez, who despite playing in 26 games (13 sub appearances) has not truly found his legs yet in this side; a truly scary proposition when he does.
Manchester City’s remaining PL schedule is a bit of a mixed bag: Spurs (H), Manchester United (A), Burnley (A), Leicester (H) and Brighton (A). It’s not inconceivable to imagine City running the table as they get healthy at just the right time and also have a game in hand against Liverpool, but again, one cannot under-estimate the number of games that have stacked up on them over the course of this year. Will they have enough left in the tank to hoist up the Premier League trophy for the second year in a row?
As of April 14, FiveThirtyEight forecasts Manchester City as a slim favourite to pull out the title over Liverpool at 52% to 48%, but anything can happen in the final weeks of what already has been an entertaining competition featuring two of the sport’s heavyweights. Liverpool may have momentum at the moment, but it would be unwise to count out a side that boasts the class and championship acumen that City has.
Do you think Manchester City can pip Liverpool to the finish line?