The best time to watch the Premier League is now – 12/08/2023 – Marina Izidro

Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City are “struggling.” It was this week, after the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, the fourth consecutive match without winning in the Premier League. It’s something that hasn’t happened since the beginning of 2017.

City had a paltry two shots on goal compared to their rival’s 22 – the lowest number for a team led by Guardiola in any league in Europe in his career. Just 24 hours earlier, the coach had said he was confident he would win the English title for the fourth time in a row and dismissed the criticism.

Then the tone changed. He has made it his responsibility to find a solution and “change the dynamic.” For a team that normally leaves opponents in a panic, their third league defeat of the season, and the way it was, set off warning signs here in England.

There is still a lot to happen, the Premier League only ends in May. And, for critics, it is inevitable to think that the word “difficulties” becomes relative when we talk about one of the richest clubs on the planet. But fourth place in the table, six points behind leaders Arsenal, and recent performances prove that City are not experiencing a magical moment. With Liverpool in second and Aston Villa in third, the title race is wide open. At the moment, City is not seen as an unbeatable team (and in ten days they will debut in the Club World Cup semi-final, hello Fluminense!).

It is necessary, of course, to put this scenario into context. Suspensions, player transfers and injuries do make a big difference (although many Premier League teams are suffering from injury losses, City’s economic power, again, may generate a little less empathy in this sense). But the fact is that Kevin de Bruyne has only played 20 minutes this season, getting injured in his debut match, and is only expected to return in January. Players like Gundogan and Mahrez, who helped with the success of recent years, have left. Rodri, a trusted man in midfield, was suspended and did not play against Aston Villa.

Last week, when I participated as a guest in the first program in Portuguese made by Manchester City and shown before facing Tottenham, I was asked if it was possible to win it all again. The question referred to the triple crown in the 2022/2023 season – Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. A very rare feat that only Manchester United had achieved in England. City sets the bar so high that any slip-up is seen as surprising and, at the same time, no achievement seems impossible.

As a consequence of this phase, the truth is that, since the start of the season, there has been no more exciting time to watch the English Championship than now. In May of this year, when City were close to winning the English title for the fifth time in six years, I wrote the column “The Premier League has become a one-club championship”, questioning whether so much power was good or bad for the sport. Predictability can be tiring. Having a close contest is great for English football.

However, it doesn’t hurt to remember that this can change at any time. We’ll see what happens in this weekend’s matches. As coach Jürgen Klopp said after Liverpool’s victory over Sheffield United on Wednesday (6), ruling City out of the Premier League title race would be the biggest joke in the history of football.

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