At present, Manchester City's pace of defending the Premier League title is difficult to stop. Although Arsenal are still one point ahead of Manchester City in the standings, let's not forget that Manchester City have played a game less. The opponent in the supplementary round is Tottenham, who just lost the north London derby. It can be said that Arsenal has already inspected Manchester City in advance, and Tottenham is at this level, and it is unlikely that they will stop Manchester City.
In fact, as early as a month ago, someone analyzed that among the top three in the championship race, Manchester City's schedule is the most favorable, because their remaining opponents are significantly weaker than Liverpool and Arsenal's opponents. While Liverpool and Arsenal are each battling with Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester United, and Chelsea, Manchester City easily beat Luton Town and Nottingham Forest to clean sheets. After being eliminated from the Champions League by Real Madrid, Manchester City was unwilling, but the remaining tasks were greatly reduced. Now Manchester City is focused on defending the league title, and the FA Cup final against Manchester United is actually not much pressure.
Of course, a weak opponent does not mean that Manchester City will definitely be able to pass the test, and sometimes, there will be undercurrents and whirlpools in the river, and if you are not careful, you will also fall into trouble. In fact, looking at the past two seasons, Manchester City has not lost to weak teams, and in the 21-22 season and the 22-23 season, Manchester City has each had a double defeat experience in the Premier League.
A team like Manchester City, even Liverpool and Arsenal, it is difficult to kill them in two legs in the league, right? But the teams that have beaten Manchester City in the past two seasons are a strong team, but their strength is slightly weaker than that of Liverpool Arsenal, and the other is a weak team at all.
In the 21-22 season, Manchester City defended the Premier League title and lost just three games in the whole season. However, two of them were lost to Tottenham. It seems that it is no accident that the two sides are 3-3 at Manchester City's home stadium this season, and Tottenham Hotspur does have a set against Manchester City. At that time, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Manchester City 1-0 at home and Manchester City 3-2 away to complete the double. Although Tottenham only finished fourth at the time, more than 20 points left by Manchester City, with the experience of beating Manchester City twice, Tottenham Hotspur was enough to become the shadow of Manchester City.
In the 22-23 season, Manchester City ushered in the most glorious era in their history, winning the treble. Especially in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals, they overthrew Real Madrid 4:0 at home, showing the sense of déjà vu of the strongest team in Europe. But in the Premier League, there is one team that has embarrassed Manchester City twice, Brentford. This team is not strong, but it can be called a giant killer, and they defeated Manchester United 4-0 in the second round of the league. And that season, Brentford beat Manchester City 2-1 away and 1-0 at home. Although Manchester City had already won the championship in advance when they won the second time, the away win over Manchester City in the first leg really made people have nothing to say.
City have lost just three league games so far, with four games left in the Premier League. On the surface, Tottenham are the strongest opponents among them, but with the first leg tied 3-3, Tottenham is unlikely to beat Manchester City again. Then, the key will be to look at the opponents in the next round, because they beat Manchester City in the first leg.
Wolves.
Although not strong, Wolves can also be called a strong team killer, and this season has put many championship contenders into a difficult battle. In the first leg, Wolves beat Manchester City 2-1 at home, so they are the only team that could beat Manchester City twice this season. Don't look at Manchester City's situation now, but playing Wolves at home, it is better to be careful. At this node, beware of unpopularity. Because of an upset, it is possible to change the championship situation.
Of course, Manchester City is unlikely to be upset by Wolves at home, and I hope they don't play the title double this time.