A few days ago, reporter Ross Jackson wrote an article in the "Manchester Evening News" and talked about Manchester City's championship strength.
The full text is as follows:
Both Manchester City and Arsenal have experienced similar situations, which will make Manchester City feel more comfortable than Arsenal. Manchester City, who struggled at the start of the season, have now regained their form and look set to return to the Premier League title race. Manchester City will take on Arsenal as they look to regain English football's top honors.
Interestingly, the points difference between Liverpool and Manchester City is the same as that between Arsenal and Manchester City. However, after the collapse at the beginning of the season, Liverpool seems unlikely to make an impact in the title race this season, while Manchester City's record of chasing the team at the top of the table suggests that a 4-point gap can easily be bridged.
Guardiola's teams always finish strongly at the end of the season, which is one of the key factors in the club's success in recent years. Even with a collapse in the middle of last season that ended their title defense before Christmas, Manchester City still went on a 10-match unbeaten run in the league to ensure qualification for next season's Champions League.
In the 2023/24 season, they easily won the championship with 23 unbeaten league games; in the 2022/23 season, they lost to Brentford in the last round after achieving 16 unbeaten games in the league and already had the championship in hand; in the 2021/22 season, they ended with 12 unbeaten league games. In short: Manchester City know how to hit the ground running at key stages of the season.
However, we may see Manchester City show a different look this season. Although Haaland is in unstoppable form and Manchester City has climbed up the standings, there have been hiccups along the way. The defeat to Villa in late October was a reminder that this team may no longer be the unstoppable juggernaut we saw at the Etihad Stadium in previous years.
Just a few weeks ago, they lost at the last minute in Monaco, and suffered two consecutive defeats in just three rounds at the beginning of the season. They were excluded from the championship by rival fans. Such a painful experience is even more unforgettable.
There is no doubt that Manchester City is already in the championship group, but can this Manchester City achieve an unbeaten record of 15 games and sprint to win the championship? It's hard to imagine this happening.
Manchester City may need to make some changes this season, but it is this ability to adapt to changes and calmly deal with challenges that makes them so outstanding under the leadership of Guardiola.