Title fights: from Mahrez’s spot of bother to Arteta’s ultra-caution

2018-19

1. Manchester City 98 pts
2. Liverpool 97pts
7 Oct 18: Liverpool 0-0 Man City
3 Jan 19: Man City 2-1 Liverpool

Having begun their managerial rivalry in the Bundesliga, Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola first locked horns in an English title race in 2018-19, after Liverpool eliminated Manchester City in the previous season’s Champions League quarter-finals. October’s battle of challengers v champions at Anfield was a damp squib – with Riyad Mahrez’s late penalty miss the highlight of a scruffy goalless draw. The same could not be said of January’s rematch at the Etihad, which would go down as one of the Premier League’s great contests. Liverpool arrived unbeaten, seven points above a wobbling City, who had lost three of their last five. The hosts simply had to win but at 0-0 John Stones’ goalline clearance was the moment that defined the razor-thin margins of this title race: Liverpool were 11.7mm from taking the lead. Roberto Firmino did cancel out Sergio Agüero’s opener but Leroy Sané’s clinical finish gave City the edge, despite wave upon wave of Liverpool pressure. The Reds eventually lost out by a solitary point, defeat at the Etihad also denying Klopp’s side an unbeaten season.

2019-20

1. Liverpool 99pts
2. Manchester City 81pts
10 Nov 19: Liverpool 3-1 Man City
2 Jul 20: Man City 4-0 Liverpool

Having come so close the season before, Liverpool began the season in relentless fashion, winning 10 of their 11 games before City visited Anfield in November. Guardiola needed a result to keep Klopp’s unbeaten side in touching distance but they were swept aside in a frantic, bad-tempered battle. Fabinho’s long-range strike set the hosts on their way to a three-goal lead and while Guardiola raged at refereeing decisions, it did not make much difference to the result, or the title race. By the time Liverpool lost a league game – to Watford in February – they were 22 points clear of City, the title a formality. And then, Covid came. After a three-month shutdown, the season was played out behind closed doors, and by the time Liverpool visited an empty Etihad in July, the title was already theirs. City breezed to a 4-0 victory that stood in stark contrast to the white-hot intensity of the reverse fixture; in doing so, they did at least help stop Liverpool from passing their 100-point record haul, set in 2018.

2021-22

1. Manchester City 93pts
2. Liverpool 92pts
3 Oct 21: Liverpool 2-2 Man City
10 Apr 22: Man City 2-2 Liverpool

City cantered to the title in the Covid-hit 2020-21 campaign but Liverpool reemerged as contenders the following season, playing out two pulsating 2-2 draws against their rivals. In the first, at Anfield, the hosts twice took the lead, through Sadio Mané’s opener and Mohamed Salah’s incredible solo strike – but City showed grit to level quickly on both occasions, through Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne. The title battle was reignited, even if Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea actually sat top after the draw in October. When Liverpool went to the Etihad in April, the chasing pack were in the distance as City led by a point. This time it was Liverpool who dug deep to level twice and deny the leaders a knockout blow – but City held on to their one-point lead to the end, fighting back to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on a dramatic final day.

2022-23

1. Manchester City 89pts
2. Arsenal 84pts
15 Feb 23: Arsenal 1-3 Man City
26 Apr 23: Man City 4-1 Arsenal

This was the season when the death of Queen Elizabeth II played an unexpected role in the title race. Mikel Arteta’s emerging side began it in relentless fashion, leading City by five points at the World Cup break in November and extending the gap to eight in mid-January. However, fixture postponements from September had the knock-on effect of pushing Arsenal’s two games against City into the second half of the season, and the champions pounced at the Emirates in February. After an even and entertaining first half, clinical goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland took Guardiola’s side top. Arsenal kept fighting but a run of three draws gave City the upper hand, and April’s dominant 4-1 home win, led by Kevin De Bruyne, was a decisive shift in momentum. Arsenal led the table for 248 days but the two dates against City were crucial; the six points they dropped meant they finished five points short of the title.

2023-24

1. Manchester City 91pts
2. Arsenal 89pts
8 Oct 2023: Arsenal 1-0 Man City
31 Mar 24: Man City 0-0 Arsenal

After leaking seven goals in the two games the previous season, Arteta was determined to show more defensive backbone against City. In early October, a late Gabriel Martinelli winner settled a cagey contest at the Emirates, earning Arsenal their first league win over City since 2015 as the unbeaten Gunners kept pace with Tottenham at the top. The return fixture in March ended in a dour stalemate, with Arsenal staying a point ahead of City, but two behind Liverpool in a three-horse race. Both challengers stumbled in the run-in, while City won their next nine games to retain the title, finishing two points clear of Arsenal despite failing to score in either of their games against them. Should Arteta have risked pushing for victory at the Etihad? Perhaps: the two teams finished with equal goal difference, meaning a win at City would have delivered Arsenal the title.