‘With title prize in sight, Man City rarely show any weakness’

Saturday, 27 April 2024 00:09 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

If Arsenal hoped Brighton would seek out and exploit flaws in Manchester City’s make-up in the same manner Everton brutally exposed Liverpool’s, they were to be sorely disappointed.

And this is because, at this stage of the Premier League season when the big prize is in sight and the pressure is at its height, the reigning champions rarely show any signs of weakness.

Arsenal fulfilled their part of the bargain by thrashing Chelsea 5-0 at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday before Liverpool subsided in the Goodison Park hothouse 24 hours later. The Gunners remain top of the table in a position they would have signed up for instantly at the start of the season, but the manner of City’s demolition of Brighton on this soggy night on the south coast sounded an ominous note for anyone wishing to wrestle away their crown. This convincing, extremely routine 4-0 win saw City move ahead of Liverpool into second place and to within one point of Arsenal, with a game in hand on both of the teams who have made the title race so enthralling this season.

If Manchester City win their remaining five games they will claim a fourth successive Premier League title, a sixth in seven seasons, and history tells us there is every chance they will do it.

Arsenal will have a huge say in that, while Liverpool’s title pursuit now relies on slip-ups elsewhere as well as swiftly stopping their own dramatic decline in form.

It is City, however, who have been over this course and distance before to pass the finishing post first and there was certainly no sign of nerves at the Amex Stadium.

City have now gone 18 league games unbeaten, winning 14 and drawing four, since they lost 1-0 at Aston Villa in December.

And their world-class game changers are in full working order when it matters most.