play1:19Have Man City gained momentum in the title race?Steve Nicol assesses Manchester City’s Premier League title prospects after they move top of the table with a win over West Ham.
Have Man City gained momentum in the title race?Steve Nicol assesses Manchester City’s Premier League title prospects after they move top of the table with a win over West Ham.
Steve Nicol assesses Manchester City’s Premier League title prospects after they move top of the table with a win over West Ham.
Pep Guardiola had a stern message for his players after Manchester City’s comfortable 3-0 over West Ham on Saturday, but the way it was delivered should worry Arsenal rather than anyone sitting in the Etihad Stadium dressing room.
After beating Crystal Palace, Brentford and West Ham in the space of seven days — all without conceding a goal — City are on a run of seven wins in a row in all competitions. The last time they managed that was at the end of the 2023-24 season when they claimed their fourth consecutive league title.
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Arsenal, two points clear of second-place City, will spend Christmas Day at the top of the table thanks to their hard-fought 1-0 win at Everton later on Saturday. But it won’t be lost on Mikel Arteta that they were also top on Dec. 25 in 2022 and 2023 and were twice chased down by City.
The concern for Arsenal and Arteta is that Guardiola — the master at winning championships after lifting 12 in three countries — is already seeing signs that this group has what it takes.
“We will be there [at the end of the season],” he said in the Etihad’s media theater Saturday. “If they follow me, we will be there, but we have to improve. I know the level in Europe, in the Premier League, I know Arsenal and the other teams and how tough they are, it is not enough.
Guardiola’s City don’t usually lose title races in which they’re involved. His team hasn’t won the league only three times since his 2016 arrival in Manchester, but each time it was because City were nowhere near the leaders. In 2016-17 — Guardiola’s first season — City finished 15 points behind champions Chelsea. In 2019-20, they were 18 points adrift of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and last season, they finished 13 points behind Arne Slot’s side.
In every other season — six in total — City’s relentlessness after Christmas with the title on the line has been impossible to match for every other contender. Across those six seasons in which City and Guardiola have been crowned champions (2017-18, 2018-19, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24), they’ve played a total of 95 league games between Feb. 1 and the end of the season. They’ve lost only eight, and at least a handful of those came in May when the title was already won.
In 2019 and 2022, City lost once in the run-in. In 2019 and 2024, they went through unbeaten. Two times (in 2018-19 and 2022-23) City were able to put together winning runs at the business end that stretched into double figures. In securing their last title success in 2023-24, Guardiola’s team dropped only six points between Feb. 1 and May 19.
It’s a frightening history of finding form at the right time. Arsenal, meanwhile, are trying to get over the line in a title race for the first time in more than 20 years.
He said the Champions League trip to Real Madrid would be a learning experience for the likes of Nico O’Reilly, Nico González, Matheus Nunes, Jérémy Doku, Savinho and Cherki. Equally, the two-legged Carabao Cup semifinal against Newcastle in the new year has been identified as another chance to prove they can make the step from a good team to trophy winners.
For now, though, Guardiola is cutting a relaxed figure. Right in mix with more than half the season left to play is exactly where he wants to be. As much as there was a warning delivered to City’s players after their win over West Ham, the alarm bells will be ringing for Arsenal.
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