It is as you were at the top of the Premier League after victories for Liverpool and Manchester City this weekend, but this season’s title race continues to produce plenty of talking points.
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Jurgen Klopp’s team broke their own top-flight point’s record at Cardiff City Stadium, while City edged closer to a Premier League-best of their own.
If Pep Guardiola’s team win their remaining games, they will become the first club to retain the Premier League title since rivals United did so in 2009. Even if they are piped to the post by Liverpool, City can still set a new record points haul for a reigning Premier League champion.
Saturday’s 1-0 win against Tottenham lifted them to 86 points, the highest tally for a defending champion since Sir Alex Ferguson’s United finished on 89 points in 2011-12 – only to be denied back-to-back titles by Sergio Aguero’s memorable injury-time winner against QPR.
The biggest ever points haul by the reigning Premier League title holders is 92, set by United in the 42-game season of 1993-94. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea accrued 91 points in 2005-06 – the highest tally since the division was reduced to 20 teams in 1995-96.
If City maintain their current points-per-game ratio of 2.53, they will end the season on 96 – just four shy of their record-breaking 100-point tally from the 2017-18 season. Whether that will be enough to win City the league remains to be seen, particularly with Liverpool in such breathtaking form. The Reds’ 2-0 win at Cardiff on Sunday lifted them back above Guardiola’s team and on to 88 points – their best ever total in a Premier League season.
Adjusting to three points for a win, Liverpool have only earned more in a top-flight campaign in 1978-79 (98) and 1987-88 (90).
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While Liverpool and City continue to blaze a trail at the summit, it has been a forgettable campaign for the teams at the other end of the table – who have endured a miserable record against the division’s top sides this season.
Teams who started the day in the top six have won all 33 of their league games against sides in the bottom three – a top-flight record, surpassing 30 wins in such fixtures in the 1891-92, 1978-79, 1985-86, 2001-02, 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons. Perhaps as a consequence, the point’s gap between sixth place and third bottom in the Premier League also appears to be widening.
Manchester United, who were beaten 4-0 by Everton on Sunday, are currently 33 points above Cardiff. If they win the Manchester derby on Wednesday they will extend that gap to 36 points, which would equal the top-flight record set at the end of the 2013-14 season.
Then, Tottenham finished sixth on 69 points with 18th-placed Norwich City ending the campaign on 33 points.
Mid-week clashes will surely determine the way the title shift.
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