Key events
Guardiola says it’s not especially special doing three in a row, every title is special, but the achievement shows consistency. He then credits Arsenal and Liverpool for pushing his team to its limits, and today is the first day the who squad, staff and suits have been together.
Email! “It doesn’t matter how many changes Pep has made,” laments Neal Butler. “I have a feeling Chelsea are going to get murdered today. Then again, I’ve had that same feeling for every match since Lampard took over, and another change of formation isn’t helping.”
What I don’t get about this Lampard escapade is why he hasn’t tried to settle some players. The formation next season won’t be up to him, but given what was paid for Mudryk, for example, I don’t get why he’s not been given a run of games to settle. Instead, he’ll now have to do that next season with important points at stake, rather than now, for free.
Frank Lampard tells Sky that his team have to respect City’s achievement, and though they’ve made changes, his players need to focus on themselves. It’s a chance for them to show pride in Chelsea and themselves, he reckons. Good luck, lads.
As for Chelsea, Frank Lampard has yet another go at making something, anything out of Todd Boehly’s handiwork. Mendy, Badiashile, Kovacic, Madueke and Felix drop out; Kepa, Fofana, Azpilicueta, Loftus-Cheek and Havertz come in.
Title in the bag, Pep Guardiola makes changes. Ederson, Dias, Stones, Rodri, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish, Bernardo and Haaland drop out. Ortega, Laporte, Gomez, Lewis, Phillips, Foden, Mahrez, Álvarez and Palmer come in. Or, put another way, Walker and Akanji are the only two who stay in.
So let’s have a closer look at those teams…
Big, big trouble for Leeds. They now trail West Ham 3-1, and relegation looks close.
Teams!
Manchester City (4-3-3): Ortega; Walker, Akanji, Laporte, Gomez; Lewis, Phillips, Foden; Mahrez, Álvarez, Palmer. Subs: Ederson, Dias, Stones, Gundogan, Haaland, Grealish, Rodri, De Bruyne, B Silva.
Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Arrizabalaga; Fofana, T Silva, Chalobah; Azpilicueta, Fernandez, Loftus-Cheek, Hall; Gallagher; Sterling, Havertz. Subs: Mendy, Pulisic, Koulibaly, D Fofana, Mudryk, Joao Felix, Madueke, Chukwuemeka, Ziyech.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Ashington)
Preamble
Well that de-escalated quickly. Not long ago, we had a title race, then Pep Guardiola moved John Stones into midfield, his team hit a rolling boil, and Arsenal faltered then kept faltering. The title – City’s seventh in 12, fifth in six and third in a row – is theirs, and the two outstanding legs of the treble feel less in prospect, more inevitable.
With good reason. There’s a particular kind of confidence that only comes with success, and all season City have cut about like they know they’ll do whatever it takes to get one point more than their nearest rivals. But in the last few weeks, things have changed: rather than use that knowhow and cunning to slide over the line, they kept it in reserve because form took over, their midweek dematerialisation of Real Madrid up there with the great performances.
That kind of thing – every player hitting a simultaneous peak within a structure that fits them perfectly – tends not to happen often, and they may never play quite as well again. Or, alternatively, we may be acclimatising to a new normal.
Yeah, about that. Pages such as this one exist mainly to celebrate this beautiful thing of ours, and make no mistake, City are elevating its on-pitch aspect in ridiculous style. Problem being we can’t ignore it provenance: a repressive regime using football as a nationalist tool to build power and influence. Nor can we sidestep the Uefa FFP charges thrown out by Cas partly because of an expired limitation period, or the many alleged Premier League FFP rule-breaches yet to be disproved. So, um, er, yeah, them. But what a team!
And then there’s Chelsea! It’s the way we tell ’em! The polar opposite of City’s wise largesse and, in a crowded field, the worst team in per pound spent in football history, they’ve lost six out of eight since the fascinatingly inept decision to appoint Frank Lampard as caretaker manager. Should the champions be in the mood, they could take an epochal beating this afternoon, and even if they don’t, will still endure the chastening experience of applauding them onto the pitch before watching as they accept the trophy … and unlike most of City’s rivals, they can’t even ascend the moral high ground to console themselves.
Kick-off: 4pm BST
