Amid an incredible run which shows no sign of ending, Manchester City have not only established a three-point Premier League lead, but also registered 11 goals without reply in their two most recent outings.
Having survived a dubious penalty call to go on and record a 4-0 win over lowly Newcastle United, they posted their third successive clean sheet last weekend, maintaining the best defensive record in the division – with just nine goals conceded.
Four different goalscorers at St James’ Park – plus six names on the scoresheet in the 7-0 victory against Leeds a few days earlier – demonstrates the wealth of attacking talent available to Pep Guardiola, who has also seen his side qualify for a place in the Champions League’s last 16.
Despite the summer departure of record goalscorer Sergio Aguero and the forthcoming transfer of Ferran Torres to the same destination, Guardiola insists that no signings are required during the winter window, and recent events certainly support his case.
City have scored 24 times since they last failed to win in the league, back in late October, and sit top of the Premier League at Christmas for only the third time – on both previous occasions they went on to be champions.
Guardiola’s men also secured their 34th league victory of 2021 by beating Newcastle, setting a new record for the most top-flight wins by any team in a calendar year, so are well placed to tackle a side recovering from cup heartbreak for the second time in a month.
Eliminated from the Europa League earlier in December, when losing 3-2 at group rivals Napoli in a last-day decider, more woe followed on Wednesday night as Leicester missed out on a place in the EFL Cup semi-finals by crashing out on penalties at Anfield.
After establishing a 3-1 lead by just after the half-hour mark, the Foxes seemed set to seal a place in the final four, but Liverpool’s Takumi Minamino took the contest to penalties
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when he fired a late equaliser past Kasper Schmeichel. Almost inevitably, Leicester then went out of the cup in a dramatic spot-kick shootout, with Ryan Bertrand’s miss proving pivotal.
Currently ninth in the Premier League table, the season as a whole has not been going to plan for the East Midlands side, who had won just one of their previous six games before beating Newcastle last time out in the top flight.
Perhaps hoping that a 4-0 win over the Magpies would kickstart an underwhelming campaign, Brendan Rodgers was then hit by the postponement of games against Tottenham and Everton due to the impact of COVID-19, and injuries have also piled up over the past few weeks
