For the third consecutive season Manchester City have been crowned Premier League champions.
Everybody expected this to be the weekend that Man City complete the back-to-back-to-back, as they only needed three wins against a struggling Chelsea on Sunday to be unreachable for second-placed Arsenal. However, they didn’t even have to wait until the Sunday.
Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Arsenal did the job for Man City, which means they are Premier League champions with three games to spare. The first of the Treble confirmed, Man City could now put their focus into keeping players fit for next month’s cup finals, though we know Pep Guardiola won’t do that.
As well as still being on for the Treble, Man City are also just the sixth club in the history of the English top flight to win three consecutive titles, and the second in the Premier League era — after Manchester United in 1999-2001 AND 2007-2009. But this was no easy Premier League win.
For quite some time Arsenal looked to be on their way to the title, but there was no keeping this Man City squad down. Here are a few stats behind the chase.
Everybody expected this to be the weekend that Man City complete the back-to-back-to-back, as they only needed three wins against a struggling Chelsea on Sunday to be unreachable for second-placed Arsenal. However, they didn’t even have to wait until the Sunday.
Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Arsenal did the job for Man City, which means they are Premier League champions with three games to spare. The first of the Treble confirmed, Man City could now put their focus into keeping players fit for next month’s cup finals, though we know Pep Guardiola won’t do that.
As well as still being on for the Treble, Man City are also just the sixth club in the history of the English top flight to win three consecutive titles, and the second in the Premier League era — after Manchester United in 1999-2001 AND 2007-2009. But this was no easy Premier League win.
For quite some time Arsenal looked to be on their way to the title, but there was no keeping this Man City squad down. Here are a few stats behind the chase.
2. Arsenal’s Christmas curse
One of the things used to predict a Premier League season is looking at the table on Christmas Day. While it is by no means guaranteed, in recent years the Christmas table toppers have had a good record of going on to win the league.
Not including 2022/23, 10 of the last 13 teams to be top at Christmas have gone on to win the league. However, historically it’s actually a burden for Arsenal.
The Gunners have now been top at Christmas three times in the Premier League era, in 2002/03, 2007/08 and 2022/23. And they have failed to win the league in each of those three seasons, losing to Man Utd in 2002/03 and 2007/08, before Man City this year.
3. Dominance in head-to-head
While there were other moments (which we’ll go into shortly), one of the big reasons for Man City catching Arsenal and winning the league is their record in the two head-to-head matches.
Fans had to wait until February for the first meeting at the Emirates, which Man City won 3-1 and then last month a 4-1 victory put the title race firmly in the Citizens’ hands. It means Pep Guardiola has now gone unbeaten in his past Premier League games against Arsenal win an incredible 12 wins.
4. Lost leads
The other main reason for Arsenal not winning the league was their own downfall of not being able to hold onto leads when it mattered. Leading up to the 4-1 defeat to Man City, Arsenal had drawn three in a row, loosening their control on top spot and they were all avoidable.
Held by Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton, Arsenal were winning the first two by two goals before having to settle for a point. It was the first time in their history that Arsenal had dropped points in back-to-back Premier League games when having a two-goal lead.
It was the reverse against Southampton, coming down from a two-goal deficit, but the damage had been done.
5. Man City winning run
This wasn’t just Arsenal losing the league though, it was Man City winning it. And boy do they know how to win.
The Citizens’ climb to the summit came thanks to an 11-game winning streak in the Premier League which allowed them to capitalise on Arsenal’s struggles. Bournemouth, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Southampton, Leicester, Arsenal, Fulham, West Ham, Leeds and Everton have all fallen by the wayside on Man City’s romp to the title.
And this isn’t the first time they’ve been on such a run under Guardiola. In fact it’s the fifth, with their best extending to 18 at the start of the 2017/18 season, also breaking a Premier League record for winning runs.
6. Man City final run in
A fast start to the Premier League season will set you in good stead and sometimes that can be good enough to win a title, but Man City love the late game. The real Man City doesn’t often kick in until the second half of a season and that is very much in the case in 2022/23.
Since the turn of the year, Man City have won 49 points from a possible 57 in the Premier League, nine more than any other team (Aston Villa, 40). Their 49 has also come from playing just 19 games, while Villa got 40 in 21 — Arsenal, for the record, won 38 points in 21 games.
7. A nod to Haaland
And we couldn’t leave without a nod to the robot. Of course Man City have found ways to win in the past without Erling Haaland, but having someone like him in their team has made the chase much easier.
With three games left to play in the Premier League, Haaland has already broken the record for most goals scored in a single campaign in the competition and is just four away from hitting the 40-goal mark. It’s very conceivable that he could do it, which would be just another cherry on top of this fascinating title win.