Man City secure 3rd straight EPL Title!

24th May 2023

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In the end a hat trick of Premier League titles was decided because of Nottingham Forest, playing in the Premier League for first time this century. Forest secured their survival by beating Arsenal 1-0 and that meant that on Saturday without kicking a ball Manchester City were champions yet again. It is 5 league titles in the last six years and their seventh title in 11 years. Of course when City did play at the Etihad the following day against Chelsea it was party atmosphere and football had the rare distinction of fans in celebration before a game. 

Granted City's latest win had not been as epic as some of their battles with Liverpool but it was still impressive. The club are only now just pushing up a month's worth of being in 1st place and it must be gutting for Arsenal, a club who have no league titles for 19 years to see the title slip out of their hands. Make no mistake, even in February they had control. Some will say that Arsenal bottled it, but that seems like a throwaway lazy word to use. All of the team talks, preparation, tactics, sports training, sports science, build up to match day and lest we forget 25 wins so far tells us that perhaps all Arsenal were missing was a Kevin De Bruyne. They are not alone, because any club in the world could do with the Belgian's services. It is interesting to note how hollow he looked for Belgium at the World Cup but how full he is for City. As for Arsenal they will give it a go next season and while they may lose a couple of players (Granit Xhaka looks to be on his way out) surely the club will also invest again in the summer. It is important one would think that they invest in proven quality and don't go down the road of buying youngsters with potential. However you would expect them to be challenging again but the argument could also be raised if this was their big chance. For examle will Liverpool and Chelsea have average to poor seasons in the next campaign? One would expect both to come out charging.

Going back to City, they still have two games to play and have the opportunity to finish 10 points in front of Arsenal. That may feel like an easy title and certainly for historians and anyone taking a glance at the table it would be if they finish that far clear but that just serves to how relentless this club can be. It's difficult to comprehend but in the first half of the season City looked fairly sluggish- good but not great. But no club can do what they do and reel of consistent wins when it really matters and therin lies the difference. Finally we have to mention Erling Haaland of course, who in his debut season with the club has not only won the league title but also broke the Premier League goalscoring record which stood for 28 years. He needs a couple more goals from the last two games to break into the all time top 10 for English top flight football, but what does it matter, one record at a time and he has many fantastic seasons left in him. Congratulations to Manchester City who next season will attempt to break perhaps the ultimate record and win the league for the 4th time in a row which has never been achieved in English top flight football.

The relegation battle will go down to the final weekend and it has been hearts in mouths for any fans who have clubs involved down there. There was good news for Nottingham Forest, so criticised for their huge squad but they needed it in the end and were by far the most effected team with injuries this season, but they have pulled through and survived in their return season. Southampton of course are relegated but they remain the only side so far. Everton who haven't gone down since the 1950s have wobbled but a Yerry Mina goal in the 99th minute against Wolves gave his side a huge point. If Everton can beat Bournemouth who are playing for nothing at home then they would stay up. Howvever Leicester may still have a say in proceedings. Leeds are not finished yet but it looks likely and even if they beat Tottenham that doesn't guarantee their safety. The club lost away to West Ham at the weekend 3-1 after taking the lead and that is a bitter pill to swallow. For all of Sam Allardyce's hero worship in keeping clubs up that looks like it is going to fail. But he is also known to tighten up defences so the fact the club has shipped 7 goals in his 3 games in charge doesn't do his reputation much good. He could argue that he hasn't had much time, that is true but he was still more than happy to come out of semi-retirement and accept half a million pounds. Relegation and Europe are on the cards for next weekend's Premier League showdown and everyone will be counting down the days to that.

To be relegated: Leeds 1.06, Leicester 1.10, Everton 4.00



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