Pep Guardiola finally looks to have got his Manchester City team to full throttle at the perfect time. Since the early weeks of the season, City have spent just five days at the top the table in a campaign that Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have significantly dominated, although that control suffered a slight lapse this past weekend.
Having not won at Anfield in over a decade, the task facing Mikel Arteta and his players felt insurmountable. Yet after just 30 minutes strikes from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus put the Gunners in complete control against Liverpool.
From an Arsenal perspective, however, Jurgen Klopp's side got back into the game at the worst possible time, with Mohamed Salah converting a free-flowing move just before half-time. After the break, the Reds threw barrages of attacks at Aaron Ramsdale's goal and eventually broke their resistance with just three minutes of the 90 to play courtesy of a Roberto Firmino header.
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A point secured on Merseyside now means Manchester City are six points behind Arsenal with a game in hand to come and a clash against the Gunners at Etihad Stadium on April 26. If City win both those games and the Gunners happen to lose their next two matches, Guardiola's side would return to the summit for the first time since February 15 when they beat Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
There are some advantages Arsenal still hold, though, and one of those is the fact City have to play five times in three different competitions this month. The first test for Guardiola and his players comes tonight (Tuesday) in a Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.
The midweek clash sets off four consecutive weeks where City must play in order to fulfil their fixture obligations across three competitions. Through numerous fruitful transfer windows, Guardiola has built a squad capable of competing in several competitions right up until the business end of the season and that will be severely tested in the comings weeks.
The main problem for Guardiola is continuity. Earlier in the season, the reigning champions' head coach often tinkered with his squad in an attempt to unearth his best XI. This included Academy star Rico Lewis being brought into the first team picture with Joao Cancelo exiled from the team before joining Bayern Munich on loan in January.
Bernardo Silva was then trialled as an inverted left-back and while in possession this proved successful, the Portugal international was often exposed defensively. Kevin De Bruyne also faces spells out of the team despite his clear importance. However, it was the return of John Stones from another injury setback that helped the City stars align and thus handed Guardiola his preferred starting XI that is now firing on all fronts.
Minus the injuries to Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, who would both almost certainly be in the chosen team, Guardiola has made minimal changes in the last few weeks between games in comparison to earlier in the campaign. Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and John Stones form the back four, but the latter now plays the inverted role with a back three then forming involving the remaining trio while in possession.
Having played just three days ago, changes are certainly likely to occur for Bayern. However, with the Champions League the only major title to allude Guardiola during his reign at City, the team could remain the same. Instead, that could throw into doubt the following weekend's selection for Guardiola when City welcome Leicester to Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
Sitting second from bottom doesn't exactly pose Leicester as a significant challenge for City but fatigue could certainly set in. Guardiola rotating his team would prohibit that from occurring but any familiarity and momentum could be lost if too many changes are made, which could ultimately impact City in their title run-in.
Arteta has seen the benefit of a consistent XI this season and Guardiola is likely of the same ilk now he has found the best combination for the players he has. Haaland and Stones are integral to the system the Spaniard looks to be favouring, but with the duo still on their way back from injury, a spot on the bench could arrive soon to lessen the chances of the injury reccurring.
The game in hand and home clash against Arsenal do present City as favourites on the face of things. However, their unrelenting form could actually cause them problems if Guardiola feels the need to rotate some key stars in important positions.
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