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Gary Neville warns Manchester City about the one big thing that could cost them the Premier League title

Former Manchester United defender believes Pep Guardiola's side will face their biggest test of their title credentials through the winter months

Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 31 October 2017 11:50 GMT
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Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side lead the Premier League by five points after just 10 matches
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side lead the Premier League by five points after just 10 matches

Manchester City have scored more goals than any other side at this stage of the season in Premier League history, but Gary Neville still has a warning for Pep Guardiola’s side and their title ambitions.

City have scored 35 goals in just 10 matches this season, having won all but one of their league games that has seen them installed as heavy title favourites. After experiencing the first season in his managerial career where he has not won a trophy, Guardiola looks determined to ensure it does not happen again, and has a much more balanced side to rely on this season that is scoring goals aplenty and also remaining strong in defence – having conceded just 18 shots on target in the same number of games.

While others may be getting ahead of themselves by anointing City as champions-in-waiting, former Manchester United defender Neville still erred on the side of caution given that they are yet to reach the most testing period in the season, and he explained that had they not slipped up at the same time in the last two years, they could well be gunning for a third consecutive Premier League title.

“They are at an outstandingly high level,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “They can only stop themselves. I mention the words robustness and resilience. I look at the winter months and it seems like an old cliché – can you go away to Stoke and that sort of garbage – but there's a little bit more to it than that.

“If you look at Manchester City's last two seasons, one under Manuel Pellegrini and one under Guardiola, and you look at November, December and January, they probably would have won two titles in those two seasons if they'd have maintained their championship-winning level.

“If they drop to that level in November, December and January again then they'll be in trouble. Those months are tough, the toughest months, I don't care what anybody says. It's the toughest months to play football – the games, the weather, the injuries, the stockpile of fixtures, the Champions League, the Christmas period...”

The winter months could pose a major problem to the free-flowing football that Guardiola’s side have produced this season, given the deteriorating weather conditions and the affect that it can have on pitches will make it harder to pass the ball with such ease as they have done in the first two months of the season.

City have not lost a game this season in the Premier League

The fixture list can also pose a problem, as City face 15 games between now and the end of the calendar year, which includes important league games against Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham, as well as four matches in 10 days across the festive period.

“Can they get through to February, March and April when the weather gets better again and it's an easier time of year to play football?” asked Neville.

“My view is that has cost them in the last two seasons and if they can get through those three months then it could be one of the most outstanding performances. It is brilliant to watch, a great level of football.”

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