Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has proclaimed as a matter of fact that his side will end the 2023/24 season as Premier League champions.
The English top flight is the only top flight league that has no single dominant team. Some have more titles than others, of course, but every season starts with a question rather than a statement of fact about who will come out on top.
Since Guardiola moved to England, however, the narrative is slowly changing. Many fans and pundits do not just see Manchester City as title contenders but are willing to stake their reputation and resources on the Cityzens coming out on top at the end of every Premier League season.
They have won five of the last seven titles. The only challenge left for them is to win it four times in a row. However, the Premier League effect is making their current charge to achieve this feat very difficult.
Arsenal and Liverpool are now posing serious threats to their goal while Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa are waiting on the wings to pounce. City are now winless in three games and are third on the 2023/24 table.
Many are still backing them to end up as league champions but the question posed by Arsenal and Liverpool especially is now generating serious buzz.
Asked about his side’s chances especially in the wake of their winless run, and about the challenge of Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool, the Spanish tactician took the gloves off to categorically state that his team will beat them all and win the league again.
Guardiola said: “The motivation is to do it better… If you want to win, you have to do it better than the opponent.”
“We have to do much better. We have to try and not concede chances or goals. My feeling today is we will win the Premier League.”
“If you ask me today, if we play at the level of Liverpool or Tottenham, we’ll do it again, knowing it’s not easy. No team has done it yet. That’s the difficulty, (but) if you ask me today how we’re feeling, we’ll do it again.”
It was a surprising comment from a man who is known for his wily, sometimes sarcastic and diplomatic comments when posed these kinds of questions.
It remains to be seen what his plans are to make Manchester City the first team to win the Premier League four times in a row and officially install a new sheriff in English football.
