The title race comes down to the final day of the season and Man City are on the cusp of doing something special. Come half past six on Sunday, Manchester City could have cemented their place in English football folklore…if it weren’t already. City has the chance of achieving something no other side in the history of the English top-flight has done. Four consecutive top-flight titles.
History
The 1st side to achieve this feat was Huddersfield Town who were the league champions from 1923 to 1926. Six years later, Arsenal came along and did the same. The Gunners were champions from 1932 to 1935. The 80s was dominated by the Merseyside clubs and it was Liverpool, who were the third team to do the hat trick. League champions from 1981 to 1984. Fourteen years later, Sir Alex Ferguson led Manchester United to three titles on the bounce. League champions from 1998 to 2001 and in doing so, Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three English top-flight titles, consecutively. Six years later, United did the hat trick for a second time in 2006 to 2009. Manchester United became the first club to win three titles on the bounce on two occasions.
Now, Man City stands on the shoulders of greatness. A fourth league title on the bounce would all but confirm their place as the greatest side English football has ever seen.
Manchester City won the first of their potential four-league titles on the bounce, back in the 2020/2021 campaign. In that time, they have accumulated 356 points and 111 wins. This is the most across Europe’s top five leagues. Additionally, City has kept 66 clean sheets, the joint most in that time alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona. They have completed more passes than any other side in Europe’s top 5 leagues and they have also scored the second most goals (369), only Bayern Munich has scored more.
Moyes’ Final Game In Charge Of The Irons
The final game of the season for Man City comes at home against West Ham. On paper, you would put this down as a home win and perhaps not give The Irons a second look, but, City, going for the title on the final day of the season, at home, in a game they should win, we all know how this ends up.
David Moyes will take charge of his 262nd competitive game for West Ham and he will want to sign off with a win. Only Harry Redknapp has taken charge of more Premier League games for the Irons than the former Manchester United boss and it’s Redknapp who is the only manager to have won more games as the manager of West Ham in the Premier League, than Moyes.
David Moyes has won 15 games against City as a manager in all competitions. He has only beaten Fulham more times in all competitions, during his managerial career, than City. Despite this, Moyes has not beaten Man City in the league since March 2013 when his Everton side all but ended Man City’s title hopes with a 2-0 win.
Only Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson have managed more games in the Premier League than David Moyes. When Moyes took charge of his first Premier League game back in 2002, Pep Guardiola was playing for Brescia in Serie A.
Moyes jokingly admitted the game on Sunday will be tough for his side. The East London side has only won twice against City away from home in the Premier League.
“It will be difficult stopping their under 14’s!” – David Moyes
Guardiola To Make History
As mentioned earlier, Man City is on the verge of doing something no English side has ever done before. The man who will oversee it will be Pep Guardiola. The 53-year-old Spaniard could become the first manager to win four English top-flight titles consecutively. An achievement many of the greats have tried, but, not done.
A win on Sunday would be Guardiola’s 225th win in the Premier League as City boss. A win on Sunday would also get Guardiola his 12th league title as a manager. 3 in Spain, 3 in Germany, and 5 (so far) in England.
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