Ward-Prowse is one player who could cause City a few problems. — AFP
MANCHESTER City are on the threshold of a bit of history that will take some matching if they beat West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow.
The champions have equalled four other clubs in winning three successive league titles and now have within their grasp an unprecedented fourth crown.
One feels that they will beat the Hammers and pip Arsenal to the title.
Man City have 88 points with the final round of matches of the season to come tomorrow.
Arsenal are two points adrift of the leaders but do have a healthy four-goal aggregate difference over Pep Guardiola’s charges, if it does come down to that.
Notwithstanding all the permutations, Man City are the favourites to win their eighth league title in 13 years and their sixth in seven years – some remarkable achievements by any standards.
A win tomorrow and the Citizens will eclipse the three-in-a-row by Huddersfield Town (1924-26), Arsenal (1933-35), Liverpool (1982-84), Manchester United (1998-2000 and 2007-09), which they matched with their own success from 2021 to 2023.
In ninth spot, West Ham don’t have much to play for other than perhaps some pride. They trail eighth-placed Manchester United by five points.
Guardiola has moulded his side into a well-drilled, cohesive unit that should get the better of West Ham, who will bid farewell to David Moyes tomorrow.
The 61-year-old Scot marked his four-and-a-half seasons at London Stadium with their triumph in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final in Prague.
His well-wishers will join him in hoping for a victory in his last game for the club, but it won’t come easy – not against this Manchester City machine.
Knowing what’s on the line and the great history that they could become part of, skipper Kyle Walker and teammates toiled before seeing off Tottenham in a difficult clash on Tuesday.
The 4-0 scoreline flattered the visitors and did not really reflect the true nature of how it unfolded at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on tough night.
Another gritty performance of sustained and unrelenting football by Man City, and they should have another title sewn up – nice and proper.
Goalkeeper Edersen and midfield supremo Kevin De Bruyne, along with a couple of other players, were withdrawn during the Spurs clash because of injury precautions. It was unclear (at the time of writing) if they would be part of the season’s finale tomorrow.
But regardless of whether their two key players feature, Man City should still have enough depth in their squad to put paid to the Hammers’ aspirations of an unlikely result in their last fixture of the season.
The visitors will almost surely look to the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Jame Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek, Mohammed Kudus and Michail Antonio to deliver the goods and give Man City a real good run for their money.
Liverpool, third in the standings, will also want to give their manager a hearty send-off.
Tomorrow is Jurgen Klopp’s last game with the Merseyside club, and they are tipped to beat Wolves without a fuss.
Playing at Anfield Stadium and in the face of a lively home crowd, one gets the feeling that Wolves might just find it a litle too difficult to swamp their hosts, like they have done in their ambushes of the past.
Klopp has won almost everything he could for Liverpool and resurrected the fortunes of the club that went three decades without the league title.
Indeed, Klopp has carved out a decent piece of history for himself at one of the world’s top football clubs. And the supporters there tomorrow will no doubt let him know in what great esteem he is held in Liverpool.
A win might not be held in the same regard as winning the title would have, but it will still be nice for Klopp to bid farewell to.
Wolves, in 13th place on the log, could climb a rung or two, depending on other results as well.
But if the form book holds true, they will have done well just to draw.
