Manchester City currently sit just four points behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race, after beating Wolves 2-0 last weekend.
While things started to look wobbly after Pep Guardiola’s side lost 2-0 to Manchester United, Arsenal were only able to extend their gap at the top by one point, drawing 0-0 with Nottingham Forest.
The following Premier League gameweek, Manchester City got the beating of Wolves 2-0, while Arsenal dropped points to Manchester United, losing 3-2 in the dying embers of the game at The Emirates.
In this article, we’ll cover
Season so far
Manchester City have won 14 of their 23 games in the league this season, drawing four and losing five times.
That being said, Guardiola’s side have scored the most goals in the division this campaign (47) and have conceded the second-fewest goals (21) with only Arsenal bettering them in this regard (17).
Since losing 2-1 to Newcastle in the Premier League back in November, Manchester City put together a six game winning streak over the festive period, keeping them in close quarters with title challengers Arsenal and Aston Villa.
However, on the opening day of 2026, Manchester City fell short against Sunderland with a 0-0 draw, leading to a run of three games dropping points, drawing with Chelsea and Brighton 1-1 in the following two fixtures.
This was then compounded with their loss against Manchester United, making it nine points dropped in their last four league games.
Luckily for Guardiola, Arsenal have also struggled in the last few weeks, dropping seven points in their last three games and keeping the title race open.
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4-2-2-2 moving forward?
After Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League victory against Galatasaray, Rayan Cherki mentioned in his post match interview that “all the players love when the manager does this system”.
What the Frenchman was referring to, was Guardiola’s utilisation of full-backs to hold the width, having more attacking profiles inside.
This allows the likes of Cherki and Jeremy Doku to play in close proximity with Erling Haaland and Omar Marmoush who started against Galatasaray, forming a 4-2-2-2.
Guardiola getting his best technicians closer together to combine, while having the likes of Haaland, Marmoush and new signing, Antoine Semenyo as options to stretch in beyond gives City a good balance of intentions, making it tough for the opposition to defend.
The full-backs start positions being slightly deeper, before arriving on the overlap to provide temporary width also allows more protection in transition, as the opposite sided full-back can stay low to form a 3-2 rest defence.
Marc Guehi effect
While Semenyo is the big money move of the January window for Manchester City, the signing of Marc Guehi could actually be the signing that takes them closer to the title.
Guardiola’s side have only conceded 21 times this season, but City are currently without Josko Gvardiol, John Stones and Ruben Dias, all of whom have been guaranteed starters when fully fit.
Not only is that a lot of defensive quality to have unavailable, but it’s also a lot of leadership lost in a team that has seen a fair amount of turnover in the last 18-months.
Perhaps Guehi’s best quality he brings to this Manchester City side is his ability on the ball during build up, where there has been some issues this season with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal and Rodri continuing to pick up injuries.
Playing in the first line of build up in the system Guardiola has been utilising to create central clusters, it is important to have a composed figure at the back, who can dictate the pace of the game and shift the tempo to give those creative players in the middle the best chance to shine.
Erling Haaland inspired
While both Semenyo and Guehi are huge signings that could tip the scales in the Premier League title race, the deciding factor will likely be just how good Haaland can be at the back end of this season.
The 25-year-old has 20 Premier League goals so far this campaign in his 23 appearances, also providing four assists.
But the Norway international has only scored one in his last six league matches, which has seen City drop nine points from a possible 18.
After playing in both the Manchester United loss and the Bodo Glimt loss in the Champions League, Haaland was rested against Wolves, with Marmoush starting as the number nine and scoring after just six minutes.
Haaland then returned to the side against Galatasaray and scored after just 10 minutes, which could be an indicator of the Norwegian coming back with a fire in his belly.
If Guardiola can get Haaland firing at the rate he was in the first 17 games of the season, there is a good chance City can win the title, so getting him on form at the right time could prove to be crucial.