EPL Title Race: Who can stop Manchester City, and why?

Premier League title race analysis: Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal in contention.

The title race is heating up with Arsenal challenging Liverpool and Manchester City, where will the pendulum swing to this season? (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

The Premier League title is shaping up to be a three-horse race this season, with only five points separating Liverpool in the top spot from Arsenal in third, but the league leaders have played one more than Manchester City and the Gunners.

Liverpool will not be playing any Premier League games this weekend; they have a date with Chelsea in the final of the Carabao Cup, a significant chance to land a trophy for their outgoing manager and a chance for Chelsea to win a trophy in their troubled season.

In the context of the title race, this is the closest it has been at the top for seven seasons, and, to set it straight, every pointer leads us to the near fact that it would be down to the wire at the end of the season in May.

Liverpool is currently blighted by injury; how unlucky can they be to be without key men at this time? They navigated Luton in a game of two halves on Wednesday, but they won’t play Luton every day on their way to the title.

Manchester City isn’t blowing teams away as they normally do at this time; they scraped a 1-0 win at home to Brentford on Tuesday and only escaped with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at the same Etihad a few days earlier. Is anything amiss for the champions?

The Cityzens must keep Rodri fit and out of trouble; he has proven to be their most important player, with no disrespect to Erling Haaland or Kevin De Bruyne. The latter two were injured for some time, and City managed to earn results without them, but they didn’t win a single game without Rodri.

For Arsenal, the Champions League defeat at Porto may have dampened their spirit, but they’re good enough to be where they are. They can bolster the squad in the summer, but they need to get over the line with what they currently have.

Bukayo Saka is key to the Gunners, but he’s not the only one. The youngster is leading from the front as their highest goal scorer, something they should be looking up to Gabriel Jesus for, but the Brazilian is either injured or winning duels in midfield.

Declan Rice has a fine shout to be named the signing of the season; any injury to him can significantly hurt Arsenal’s season. He is yet to have a bad game for the Gunners, and he is key to their build-up; his fitness is something they must not take lightly.

The defensive partnership of Gabriel Maghalaes and William Saliba is rock solid. You look at Arsenal of old, and now, with a great smile at their progress, they have the best defensive record in the league. Thanks to the two lads, they will be key in the run-in.

Where will the title swing this season? It’s a tough call to make considering the coming fixtures. Manchester City remains the clear favorite, with Liverpool in second. Arsenal can enjoy the underdog tag; it takes the pressure off them and could help them shock the league.