It is midway through February and we are in the midst of the most hotly contested title race in recent times. Liverpool, on the back of their strong summer transfer window, seemed to be running away with the league after a dramatic December, but Manchester City have pulled up their socks and are right back in the reckoning again.
With the coming weekend dedicated to the 5th round of the FA Cup, we have decided to take a look at why Manchester City are the favourites to defend their Premier League title this season.
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
This City team is brimming with talent and desire but what is most important in a title race, serial winners. Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany have won the Premier League thrice already along with a FA Cup and a couple of League Cups thrown into the mix. And the rest of the squad are obviously defending champions while new addition, Riyad Mahrez, has also won the title with Leicester City.
And while the detractors may point towards the nature of the win last year (100 points and a gap of 19 points with 2nd placed Manchester United) as something which is not an ideal setup for this year’s three-way title race, the presence of the above-mentioned trio who won their first two league titles in the last minute and the last day respectively will be of extreme importance. Also, the fans have experienced both ends of the spectrum in a title-winning season and while not on the surface, it does have an impact during the business end of the season.
In comparison, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur players will be lacking the knowledge and the pressure on them will be huge as the season draws to a close. The Reds, in fact, will have ghastly memories of a recent title-race with City where they let a huge advantage ‘slip’ at the very end.
Thus, on this count, Pep Guardiola and co will know how to navigate themselves and compartmentalise their energy and focus in a better manner.
SERGIO AGUERO HAS HIT FORM AND KEVIN DE BRUYNE HAS NOT BEGUN YET
Sergio Aguero has notched up back to back hattricks at home against Arsenal and Chelsea and the timing could not have been better. Despite having scored 11 goals before the match against Arsenal, Aguero was visibly not at his best and it was certainly a cause for concern for the team management. Gabriel Jesus was knocking on Pep’s door for a regular starting berth and the midfielders were shouldering the scoring burden to an extent.
But the sudden implosion of Aguero’s proven abilities has put City in an enviable position. Kun was never a flat track bully but the 6 goals against Arsenal and Chelsea will have boosted his confidence to a huge extent.
And not just Aguero, there is another player who is yet to hit his top form, which is mainly due to an injury-hit campaign- Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgian has started to gain match rhythm in the last month and Pep will be hoping for a fully fit in-form De Bruyne for the rest of the campaign. The two-time winner of the Etihad player of the season has played just 534 minutes in the league, most of which has gone in trying to get up to speed.
And given the calibre he possesses, a flurry of goals and assists is just around the corner.
PEP GUARDIOLA- THE WINNING MACHINE
Pep Guardiola is a winning machine. He has made it a habit of winning trophies. Out of his 24 trophies won over the course of his managerial stint at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City, the fact that he won 3 league titles back to back in both Spain and Germany is of special significance. The fact he has had sustained success in the league which is the toughest competition to prevail in shows that his philosophy and tactical acumen, once ingrained, is likely to pay dividends over a period of time.
Keeping this in mind, his apparent ‘failure’ in his first season in England can now hardly be called that, with the process and method during his current tenure clearly evident to us.