Ranking Man City’s last six games by where THEY could now bottle it | OneFootball

Manchester City have put the Premier League title race back in their hands by beating Arsenal, but that also means the pressure is shifting onto their backs.

After their 2-1 win over the league leaders, the equation has become simple for City. Win all their remaining six games and they will be crowned champions unless Arsenal end up with a better goal difference.

Pep Guardiola’s side can go top of the table this midweek, since even the narrowest of wins over Burnley would see them overtake Arsenal via their goals scored record.

They’ve done the hard part by overcoming Arsenal in their head-to-head battle, also ruling out the possibility of a play-off for the Premier League title.

But it begs the question: after making so much of the prospect of Arsenal bottling it, would City throwing it away from here represent a bottlejob itself?

As the Anatomy of a Bottle Job dictates, ‘bottling an unexpected situation can still absolutely be a bottling’.

City may never have a huge lead in this title race, but it is effectively in their control now. So of their six remaining games, where could they throw it away?

We’ve ranked their last six games by potential bottleability.

6) Burnley (A) (April 22)

What a mood-killer it would be for City to lose their next game, the one that could and absolutely should give them the initiative in the title race.

Realistically, the chances of a Burnley upset are slim. City won by four goals when they last met in September and Burnley have only won once in the league since the start of November.

By definition, that means a City loss to the Clarets would count as something of a bottlejob, but on current form, it’s very hard to see that happening.

City have won their last 14 head-to-head games against Burnley while conceding just three times, and have only lost to them once in the Premier League era, which was pre-Pep.

5) Brentford (H) (May 9)

The only time City have lost at home in the league this season was in their first such fixture, against Tottenham of course.

Brentford will be the next visitors to the Etihad Stadium where – as long as things are on track – there could be an atmosphere of growing confidence.

That’s not to say Brentford couldn’t be a potential banana skin for City. Keith Andrews’ side have a genuine chance of qualifying for Europe and thus a reason to fight for as many points as possible.

But other than impressively doing the double over City in the 2022/23 season, Brentford’s list of wins over Guardiola’s side is bare.

4) Crystal Palace (H) (TBC)

The difficulty of the Palace clash could well be impacted by when the fabled game in hand is scheduled.

If slotted in close to a key date in Palace’s Conference League campaign, the opponents could feasibly have other things on their mind.

Last season’s FA Cup final aside, City have a strong record against Palace under Guardiola. Their last league loss to Palace was nine meetings ago.

3) Everton (A) (May 4)

Everton’s mood has been partially flattened by their loss to Liverpool in Hill Dickinson Stadium’s first Merseyside derby.

But David Moyes’ men remain just one point away from the European places as they tussle to secure some Thursday night football next season.

For City to slip up against Everton, though, it would require the Toffees to beat them for the first time since January 2017, and for Moyes to beat Guardiola within 90 minutes for the first time ever.

2) Bournemouth (A) (May 17)

Bournemouth are the only team with a longer unbeaten run than City in the Premier League, with Andoni Iraola’s side counting to 13 before they get to a defeat.

That spell has, handily for City, seen them take three points off Arsenal. Could a Europe-hunting Bournemouth cause another upset that affects the title race?

The Cherries were routinely beaten 3-1 in the reverse fixture and have only avoided defeat to City once in their history.

But strange things can happen at the tail end of the season. This will be City’s last away fixture just as things are getting nervy, although it may have to be rescheduled if City reach the FA Cup final.

1) Aston Villa (H) (May 24)

The highest-ranking team City still have left to face, Villa could well have reached their season objective by the time we reach the final game of the season.

Indeed, Champions League qualification is now firmly in their grasp and could theoretically be confirmed within their next two games.

Villa will also have a potential Europa League final just four days before the City game, so could carry over some fatigue.

But that doesn’t mean things will be a walk in the park for City, by any means. Villa beat them back in October and will be looking to complete a first ever Premier League double against City.

If, for example, City and Arsenal go into the final day level on points (with Mikel Arteta’s men facing Crystal Palace), that starts to look proper tasty.