The Premier League Title Is Manchester City’s to Lose

Manchester City just survived a hellacious schedule to put themselves within three games of another EPL Title.

When Manchester City embarked on their journey to regain control of the Premier League title race at the beginning of January, things looked bleak.

Manchester City had just come out of a month where they had lost three league games in four, including two losses to teams you wouldn’t have expected them to lose to in Crystal Palace and Leicester City.

Liverpool, by contrast, won all seven of their games in the month of December.

After entering December two points ahead of Liverpool, City left it seven points adrift. It seemed as if the title may have left their grasp.

Manchester City responded how you would expect a historically great side to.

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City came out and won their first three league games in January, including a massive 2-1 win over Liverpool that put the title race back to within four points. They then experienced a brief wobble in their shocking defeat at Newcastle, but followed that up by winning every one of their games since.

If you had told a City fan at the end of January that the team would win every one of their games from there on out, many would have told you that you were crazy!

City entered February with several difficult fixtures remaining. In February alone, Manchester City were to play Arsenal home, Everton away (a typically difficult fixture in its own right), and Chelsea at home, all within a span of eight days.

They also faced remaining fixtures against Spurs at home and United away at the end of April, both of which followed City’s second leg in the UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals.

Things were even more complicated by Manchester City being in four competitions at once, a feat few teams in the English top flight had ever taken into February.

Liverpool, by contrast, had a slightly easier run ahead of them. After bowing out in their opening game in the FA Cup, Liverpool had only the UCL and the league remaining. This meant Liverpool would have several days off between most of their remaining league fixtures, unlike City.

Their toughest remaining fixtures in the league were United away at the end of February, Everton away a week later, then Spurs and Chelsea at home, both of which were two week apart and in April.

Things appeared to favor Liverpool.

If Manchester City had dropped points during this stretch, they could have been forgiven for it. Several of their remaining fixtures were very difficult, especially given when they came in the schedule.

Arsenal, Everton, and Chelsea all within an eight day span was an incredibly challenging run, even if the first and last of those games were at home. Arsenal and Chelsea were well within the race for the top four at the time, and Everton away was a traditionally tricky fixture for them. City didn’t just win those games, they dominated them.

Their two most recent league games, coming on the back of one of the most emotionally draining and devastating games the team has played this decade, were even more of a daunting task.

City gave it their all in that Spurs tie in the UCL. Mistakes due to mental and physical fatigue in the following games would have been expected given what they left on the pitch in that game. It would also have been expected when considering the collective fatigue that comes with the number of games they’ve played overall.

Yet, despite that, City found a way to grind out a 1-0 win against Spurs and beat Manchester United 2-0 on the road just four days after.

Manchester City have handled every barrier put in front of them thus far. They’ve now won 11 league games in a row, tied for the second longest winning run for them in the league in team history, and tied for the fifth longest winning run in EPL history. They’re just three games away from becoming the first side to win consecutive EPL titles this decade.

What’s ahead for both City and Liverpool as they enter their final three fixtures?