Premier League 2023-24 season review: Manchester City poised for fourth straight title after relentless run-in

The Premier League title race is going down to the final day of the season and Manchester City are 1-12 to claim their sixth crown in seven years.

Arsenal and, briefly, Liverpool threatened to depose the champions but Pep Guardiola's men have travelled sweetly throughout the campaign and the biggest price they drifted to in Hills's title betting was just 2-1.

A home win over West Ham on Sunday will seal the deal for City while Arsenal must beat visitors Everton and hope for an uncharacteristic slip-up from the reigning champions.

August and September: Title contenders blast out of the blocks

City went off as 4-5 title favourites with Arsenal 5-1 and Liverpool 8-1 and the Citizens won their first six Premier League matches before a 2-1 defeat at Wolves on September 30.

Arsenal also made a solid start to the campaign, scoring twice in injury-time to see off Manchester United 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium, although they dropped points in 2-2 draws at home to Fulham and Tottenham.

Liverpool drew 1-1 at Chelsea on the opening weekend before a five-match winning streak that ended with an acrimonious 2-1 defeat to Ange Postecoglou's Spurs on September 30.

October and November: Arsenal snap winless streak against City

On October 8, Arsenal claimed their first league win over City since December 2015. Despite Gabriel Martinelli's late winner, however, Coral still made City 8-11 title favourites with the Gunners 7-2.

Tottenham's strong start continued. By the end of October Spurs were trading at 9-1 for the title with Coral, having taken 26 points from their first ten games, but they lost all three of their November fixtures against Chelsea, Wolves and Aston Villa. 

Liverpool's odds were gradually shortening until a shock 1-1 draw at Luton on November 5 – one day after Arsenal's unbeaten start was ended by a 1-0 loss at Newcastle and City went top of the table with a 6-1 rout of Bournemouth.

A chaotic 4-4 draw at Chelsea halted the champions' charge and Trent Alexander-Arnold's late strike earned Liverpool a 1-1 draw away to City on November 25.

December and January: Reds rated main threat to champions

City's winless run was extended to four matches as they drew 3-3 at home to Tottenham before a 1-0 defeat at Villa on December 6.

Hills pushed them out to 5-4 to retain the title although Arsenal's hopes were also dented by a 1-0 loss at surprise top-four contenders Villa.

The Gunners were trimmed to 5-2 for the league after beating Brighton on December 17 as City and Liverpool were held to home draws by Crystal Palace and Manchester United.

But Arsenal's creditable 1-1 draw at Anfield just before Christmas was followed by damaging defeats to West Ham and Fulham, leaving Liverpool rated as the main dangers to City going into 2024.

After the Reds beat Newcastle 4-2 on New Year's Day, Coral made City 8-11 for the title with Liverpool 9-4 and Arsenal out to 13-2.

Liverpool beat Bournemouth 4-0 and Chelsea 4-1 in late January, either side of Jurgen Klopp's announcement that he would be leaving Anfield at the end of the season.

City, meanwhile, returned from December's Club World Cup triumph in ominous form, racking up four straight wins over Everton, Sheffield United, Newcastle and Burnley.

February and March: Gunners' goalscoring spree ends in Etihad stalemate

Arsenal kicked off February in style with a 3-1 home win over Liverpool, prompting Coral to cut the Gunners from 9-1 to 6-1 to be crowned champions.

Mikel Arteta's side went on to win their first eight league matches of 2024 by an aggregate score of 33-4 and by March 9 they were back into 2-1 for the title.

However, City's 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea on February 17 was the only blot during their post-Christmas run of nine wins in ten games.

John Stones gave the champions an early lead at Anfield on March 10 before Alexis Mac Allister equalised from the penalty spot for Liverpool.

On March 31, after the international break, the Reds beat Brighton 2-1 and then watched their title rivals cancel each other out in a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium.

April and May: Relentless champions pounce on rivals' slip-ups

The Etihad stalemate meant that leaders Liverpool – two points clear of Arsenal with City lurking a point further back – went into April as 5-4 title favourites.

City hit their biggest odds of 2-1 with Hills in the first week of April before Liverpool's 2-2 draw at Old Trafford saw the champions regain their status as clear title favourites. 

At that stage, bet365 were offering 5-2 about the league being decided on goal difference but City enjoyed a super Sunday on April 14 – without even playing.

Liverpool lost 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace before Arsenal were beaten 2-0 by Villa at the Emirates and a double on the two underdogs would have paid 129-1.

Those results saw City slashed to 2-5 for the title with Arsenal eased to 4-1 and Liverpool 6-1. A 2-0 derby defeat at Everton on April 24 effectively ended the Reds' chances but the Gunners responded impressively to their loss against Villa.

Last Sunday's 1-0 victory at Manchester United was their fifth on the trot in the league – and their 15th in 17 top-flight fixtures since the turn of the year.

Leandro Trossard's winner at Old Trafford ensured Arsenal's title challenge would be alive going into the final round of fixtures and they were 12-5 to win the league before City's trip to Tottenham on Tuesday.

Gunners fans were cheering themselves hoarse when Spurs forward Heung-Min Son went through one-on-one late in the game but the Citizens survived to win 2-0 and are 1-12 to wrap up the title with a home victory over West Ham.

As so often before, City have produced a relentless run of form, taking 58 points from a possible 66 since December's defeat at Villa Park.

Tottenham's midweek defeat sealed Champions League qualification for Villa, who had been 10-1 for a top-four finish at the start of the season. 

Sheffield United (8-11) and Burnley (3-1) were both prominent in the ante-post relegation market and they are set to be joined in the Championship by Luton, who were 1-3 for the drop.

Bookmakers' respect for Guardiola's champions-elect is summed up by Lee Phelps of Hills: "Could anyone stop City? In our minds, it was never really a question. Even after seeing Arsenal and Liverpool go on monster seven- or eight-game winning streaks, we always knew the title was going to the Etihad – and our odds reflected that."

It will certainly require a dramatic final-day twist if Arsenal, aided by West Ham, are to deny City a fourth successive title triumph.

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