Manchester City’s Dip Resets the Premier League’s Title Standards
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EN For much of the past decade, Manchester City under Pep Guardiola has rewritten the standards for what it takes to win the Premier League. Season after season, they turned the once-rare 90-point milestone into an almost expected benchmark.
Now, in the 2024-25 campaign, City’s fall from their usual heights has seen the title race revert to a lower gear, with Liverpool on course to clinch the trophy with around 80 points. This dramatic shift highlights just how much City’s consistency had raised the bar, and how their dip has shaken up the league’s competitiveness.
Before Guardiola and After Guardiola in Premier League
Before Guardiola came to England, only five teams had ever crossed the 90-point mark in a 38-game Premier League season. Great sides like Manchester United in 2008-09, Arsenal’s Invincibles, and Mourinho’s Chelsea had done it, but it was the exception, not the rule. Most champions would finish with points in the mid-to-high 80s.
That changed with Guardiola’s Manchester City. Since 2016, City has crossed 90 points in four of its six title-winning seasons. Pep’s City made winning with near perfection look normal. They set a record with 100 points in 2017–18 and followed it up with 98 points in 2018–19. Even when they “slowed down,” they won titles with 93 and 91 points. Guardiola’s teams averaged an incredible 2.28 points per match across more than 500 games.
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City’s dominance didn’t mean a lack of competition. On the contrary, it produced some of the most dramatic title races the Premier League has ever seen. Other top sides had to reach new heights just to keep pace. The biggest challenger was Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, who in any other era might have collected multiple titles, but ran into the buzzsaw of peak Manchester City.
Consider the 2018-19 season: Liverpool earned 97 points, the third-highest total in Premier League history at the time, and it still wasn’t enough to finish first.
A similar story unfolded in 2021-22. Liverpool again pushed City to the brink, finishing on 92 points. City had to summon one more moment of magic to end on 93 points and claim the trophy. That year’s finale was the stuff of legend. On the last day, City fell 0-2 behind against Aston Villa, staring a collapse in the face. In a span of five frantic minutes, Ilkay Gundogan and Rodri scored three goals to turn the game around, with City winning 3-2 and securing the title by a single point.
A Dramatic Fall in Standards
This season, the story has changed. City’s consistency broke down due to injuries, fatigue, and maybe the weight of off-field controversies. They couldn’t maintain their usual standards, and suddenly the league didn’t have that one team pushing everyone to perfection.
Liverpool, under Arne Slot, took advantage. With five games to spare, they stand on the verge of winning the league with just around 80 points. Arsenal, the closest challenger, is far behind with just 67 points. There is no dramatic final day showdown.
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For the first time in years, a Premier League title was decided weeks early and with a points total that would have seemed modest in the City-dominated era. The standards have effectively been reset. An 80-something point season is suddenly enough to be champions again – something that hadn’t been true since Leicester’s triumph in 2016.
Why Premier League Needs City’s Rise
While Liverpool’s fans certainly aren’t complaining, neutral observers might note that the sense of weekly jeopardy was lower this time around. The champion could afford multiple draws and losses and still cruise home comfortably.
Without City pushing the limits this season, the league feels less intense. More open? Yes. But also less electric at the very top.
Liverpool’s title this season is a great achievement, but the spark that came from last-day thrillers and 90-point races is missing. Whether City bounce back or a new challenger rises, the Premier League needs that level of excellence to keep delivering the kind of drama fans fell in love with.
Love them or loathe them, Guardiola’s Manchester City changed the Premier League’s standards, and their brief absence from the summit has only made it clearer that the league needs City’s rise next season to thrive on the drama and excellence that a truly great team brings to the title race.
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