Should there have been any Manchester City fans getting a little overexcited about the Blues' title prospects this season, then Saturday's 1-1 draw at Aston Villa will have brought them back down to earth with a bump.
After a week that saw Erling Haaland score hat-tricks in consecutive games, City win twice — one after being 2-0 down at half-time — and both Liverpool and Chelsea continue their inconsistent starts to the campaign, some allowed themselves to fantasize about the prospect of City running away with the title. No matter that Arsenal are still top of the table because, well, it is Arsenal.
After Liverpool's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United two weeks ago, a result that condemned Jurgen Klopp's side to a third game without a win, some impatient football fans declared the title race over, as the Merseysiders were surely the only side capable of stealing City's crown.
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Of course, such sentiment was, and is, absolutely ludicrous. Nobody knows that better than Pep Guardiola. When asked whether he'd watched Liverpool stumble in their third league outing, he revealed (perhaps tongue-in-cheek, perhaps not) he'd been at Girona versus Getafe instead.
Guardiola has long insisted that in the early weeks of the season it is almost completely pointless looking at the league standings. When asked ahead of the 4-2 win against Crystal Palace last weekend for his thoughts on how the league was shaping up, he told reporters to ask him after 10 games.
But to even declare leagues over in February or March, never mind September, is ridiculous. Does nobody remember what happened last season? The title was all sewn up when City led Liverpool by 14 points (having played two games more), but by the final day the Blues held just a slender one point advantage.
The slow starts of Liverpool and Chelsea have caused some to claim this new season to be competitive and open than last, but in truth the Premier League has always been tough.
"Just six games, many games to play, we know it’s always tough, it’s not my first season here, it’s my seventh. Games are tough away and at home," Guardiola said after the Villa game.
City will drop more points between now and the end of the season and so will their rivals. Let's not jump to any conclusions just yet.
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