Manchester City are gunning for a fourth straight Premier League title this season – and pundit Danny Murphy has identified one reason why Arsenal or Liverpool could stop that from happening.
The 2023/24 title race is really hotting up now, with City’s win over Brentford on Tuesday night meaning just two points separate the top three at the moment.
Erling Haaland grabbed the only goal of the game at the Etihad Stadium, which meant a much more satisfying evening for the Norwegian than on Saturday against Chelsea.
Potentially, the title race this season could go right down to the wire.
City are still most of the bookies’ favourites, but Arsenal and Liverpool are very strong contenders, and Danny Murphy has outlined one reason why both sides could stop City’s dominance this season…
Danny Murphy says Manchester City’s defensive frailties could help Arsenal or Liverpool win the title
This season, City have been suspect at the back quite often.
Pep Guardiola‘s side have struggled to keep clean sheets, with players like Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Kyle Walker and Ederson all arguably performing worse than they did last season, and new signing Josko Gvardiol having been finding his feet in the first season in England.
City have conceded 26 in the league so far, which is two more than Liverpool and four more than Arsenal.
For Murphy, City’s defensive frailties this term could offer hope for Arsenal and Liverpool. He said on talkSPORT earlier today: “The only hope, well I say the only hope… a bigger hope than last season for Arsenal and Liverpool, is that they’re not as defensively sound as they were last season.
“The numbers tell you that but your eyes do as well.”
Murphy proceeded to state that one tweak in particular has made City more vulnerable.
“The majority of last season they’d played with a full-back who would go into midfield to make an extra midfielder,” he added. “Near the end of the season, especially in the Champions League, semi-final second leg, they did it from a central defensive position with Stones going in there, against Munich or Madrid.
“The reality is that’s changed a little bit their system. He’s done it from a central position so it’s Akanji or Stones going in from central defence rather than a right-back going in. That’s the tweak they’ve had this season and I think that’s made them a bit more vulnerable.”
Former City manager Stuart Pearce also said after the win over Brentford that the high line could be a way for other teams cause damage.
Murphy is right and City must tighten up
It is hard to argue with this from Murphy – City this season have been nowhere near as defensively solid.
Seemingly, the tweak of having a centre-back pushing into midfield rather than a full-back hasn’t quite worked as effectively. Sometimes, it has led to big spaces at the back for teams to exploit.
With it generally now being a bit easier to score past City, there can then be situations of teams sitting in a low block and making it really difficult for City to score.
Moving forward, Pep needs his backline to shore things up, as was the case in the second half of last season.
