Chelsea, Chelsea, Southampton, Manchester United, Tottenham, Wolves, Tottenham. Look at Manchester City’s fixture list for the next five weeks and the big beasts outnumber the supposedly smaller fry. “That’s good,” said Pep Guardiola. It is the sort of spell that could be framed as make or break in a season, and their manager’s response scarcely sounded like the forced positivity of a man fearing the worst.
There is a logic to that. City’s kryptonite may not be the best, but the rest. They are seven points behind Arsenal. Five of those points have been lost in the last two outings at the Etihad Stadium, the loss to Brentford and the draw with Everton. The gap could be bigger still: Their previous home league game brought a 2-1 win against Fulham, but only after a 95th-minute penalty by Erling Haaland.
