10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (30 Sept - 1 Oct 2017)

4. Is It City's Title To Lose?

Jurgen Klopp
© PETER POWELL/epa/Corbis

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City passed the first true test of either title contender this weekend, having earned a real statement of an away win opposite Chelsea.

It was a looser game than the scoreline suggested; Alvaro Morata caused havoc early in the first half with the game still goalless. His was a brief shift, having been replaced by Willian at the 35 minute mark. When he left the field, he seemed to take with him any real chance that Chelsea had. An unadventurous substitution on Antonio Conte's part did not pay off - and the long-term ramifications may yet be felt. Michy Batshuayi has scored whenever he has been called upon of late, but he wasn't called up on until after Kevin De Bruyne made the difference with a stunning long-range strike - by which time City had long established themselves as the better side. That can't do much for his confidence.

As superb as De Bruyne was in the centre of the park, and as many headaches as the dizzying Jesus caused, the subtext of a great City performance was found within the back four - with Nicolás Otamendi proving for the first time that there truly is life beyond Vincent Kompany.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!