December is usually the month where Man City become a seemingly unstoppable force in the Premier League since Pep Guardiola has been at the helm. The year City amassed a record 100 Premier League points in 2017/2018, they didn’t lose their first league game of the season until 14 January in a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool, a spell which included a now record-equalling 18 consecutive wins.
The following year City won 18 out of 19 league matches after boxing day. While last season, they went on an incredible 82-day winning streak from December 2020 to March 2021, which included 21 wins, 15 of which were in the Premier League. History seems to be repeating itself in the 2021/22 season, with Sunday’s 4-0 drubbing of Newcastle United at St. James’ Park making it eight straight league wins in a row, putting Pep’s men three points clear at the top of the Premier League table after 18 matches. The win was also City’s 34th of 2021 which is the most in a calendar year by a top-flight team in England. Just like the last three times they have roared to the Premier League title, City are looking like an unstoppable force once again.
During the most recent and current winning run, City have scored 24 goals at an average of three per game, which started with victory against bitter rivals Man Utd at Old Trafford and includes last week’s 7-0 drubbing of Leeds United at the Etihad Stadium. Prior to the Old Trafford win, City’s profligacy in front of goal was questioned after a goalless draw at home to Southampton and a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, also at the Etihad.
The failure to find a like-for-like replacement for Sergio Aguero has been criticised heavily, especially after those aforementioned surprised results. Indeed, on the surface it would be obvious to point to the need to fill the void of a striker who scored 260 times in 10 seasons, including more than 20 in all competitions in eight of those campaigns. But last season showed if any team can cope without an out-and-out centre-forward, it’s City.
Ikkay Gundogan was the club’s highest scorer in all competitions from midfield last season, netting 17 times – 13 in the league – followed by Phil Foden with 16. That trend has followed into the 2021/22 season, with Bernardo Silva top scorer with seven, joint fifth in the overall league tally, but the fact seven players have scored three or more Premier League goals this season demonstrates City’s strength of scoring from all over the pitch.
At various points in the season, Raheem Sterling, Silva, Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish and even Kevin De Bruyne have all played in arguably what would be described as each player’s less than natural position as centre-forward, or more equivalent to a ‘false nine’ in Pep’s teams. And all apart from Grealish have scored five or more goals in all competitions, along with more natural central striker Gabriel Jesus, and the fact City have so many goal threats potentially makes them even more dangerous than in previous season, and compared to their counterparts in the Premier League title race.
Strength in depth is another reason why City are currently looking unstoppable. Foden and Grealish were both left out of the 4-0 win at Newcastle due to disciplinary reasons but City still eased to a 4-0 win, and often Pep makes several changes for each match with the outcome usually still resulting in a City win. That will undoubtedly be an important factor in the busy Christmas period, which will see three league matches played in the space of six days.
If previously City had been guilty of having a soft underbelly and a leaky defence but that couldn’t be further from the truth this season. The centre-back partnership of Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte have been immense, while Joao Cancelo has been exceptional at full-back, mainly operating on the left. Rodri too has become the perfect replacement for Fernandinho in-front of the back four and of course Ederson, with all these elements leading to just nine goals conceded in 18 Premier League matches so far this season. Matches coming up against Leicester, Brentford, Arsenal – who City have nine league wins in a row over – are ones you’d expect them to win nine times out of 10 on current form, before what is shaping up to be a crucial clash with Chelsea on 15th January.
While City are threatening to pull away from their nearest challengers, it would be foolish to write off Liverpool at this stage. With 50 goals scored so far, including scoring three or more in a single game in four of the past seven matches, Jurgen Klopp’s “heavy metal” style of play makes for great viewing and shows that if you give them an inch, Liverpool will punish you.
But the recent 2-2 draw to Tottenham demonstrated vulnerability in the Reds’ midfield and at times defensively through the way they play with such a high line, albeit without Virgil Van Djik on this occasion. But a previous 3-2 defeat at West Ham and 2-2 draw with Brighton also illustrates chinks in the Liverpool armour and does make them more unpredictable than Pep’s men. With City being a more mechanical and unit, while also deadly, a fourth Premier League title in five season does seem as if it’s heading back to the Etihad Stadium as we approach the halfway point in the campaign, and we make them favourites at 1.3 to do so at Bet9ja. Will you be brave enough to back against them?
