We’ve reached that point in the season when Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City start to become really good at football, like, really good.
As crazy as it seems to say, it’s been a pretty difficult campaign for Guardiola. Despite the arrival of a goalscoring menace, discovering the optimal formula for this group of players has taken the Spaniard some time.
But City have started to purr down the stretch and they remain active on three fronts. The treble is still very much on.
Here’s what the Citizens’ schedule looks like following Tuesday’s win against Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich.
The Citizens return to televised Premier League action on Saturday evening as they host a desperate Leicester.
Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes had caused Guardiola’s side plenty of issues in the past, but this Leicester outfit looks pretty sorry compared to previous iterations. Rodgers has since departed with the 2015/16 Premier League champions currently sitting 19th in the table.
Their situation is dire, but do not fear: Dean Smith is here.
The intrigue continues next week as Guardiola locks horns with Tuchel for a second time in consecutive weeks.
One of the favourites to go all the way in this season’s Champions League will face a premature exit at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday. The winners (City, almost certainly) will face either Real Madrid or Chels… sorry, Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
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Three games. Three different competitions. It’s a pretty diverse schedule for the Citizens in April.
Following their midweek trip to Munich, City travel down to London for their FA Cup semi-final against Championship high-flyers Sheffield United at Wembley.
This will be their fourth FA Cup semi-final appearance on the spin, but they haven’t reached the final since they last won the competition in 2018/19. Surely that curse can’t continue this time around?
Here it is: the big one.
The gap between City and Arsenal is closing, but the Gunners could open up a healthier margin over the Citizens by the time they visit the Etihad as they play twice more in the Premier League before the all-important midweek encounter.
Arsenal stumbled at Anfield at the weekend, but they’ve got a great chance of securing six points from their next two to heap the pressure on Guardiola’s side heading into this fixture. Many expect the victor of this duel to go on and win the title.
City conclude April with just their second Premier League away trip of the month. The Citizens visit Craven Cottage and will be hoping to make the trip down in high spirits after beating Arsenal on Wednesday night.
Fulham have currently lost four on the bounce in the league, with their overperformance for much of the season finally starting to catch up with them. They’ll also be without Aleksandar Mitrovic for City’s visit.
Guardiola’s men begin May in more midweek action as they host West Ham at the Etihad.
It’s been a domestic season to forget for David Moyes’ side, but it’s hard to envisage to east London outfit succumbing to the drop. Nevertheless, they won’t be expected to get points here. The Irons haven’t beaten City in the Premier League since 2015.
Credit: 90min.com
