I sometimes think that Manchester City's attempt to goal ratio is a bit off this year. Against Brentford they had again overwhelming statistics on their side and had 25 shots or attempts, of course not all of them on target. But I have now observed that a couple of times that Manchester City has these statistics and yet they have many games which end much closer than they should.
Perhaps it is this ratio in the end that could cost them the title against Liverpool. I know this is just speculation, but in some other seasons they were brutal and ended those games with 5-0 instead of 1-0 and the games were sometimes over with the halftime whistle. I am not sure what their issue is as De Bruyne is back and their attacking line is impressive, but if they can't get back into this beast mode and often have these close games, they will probably get punished for that in a few games.
Maybe they are trying to change tactics now, I don't know, it doesn't look like it, but their play and performance is really surprising compared to last season. Nevertheless they are now one point behind Liverpool, they have a match against Liverpool soon, let's see which one of them will do better, it will show a lot.
One reason is that De Bruyne and Gundogan had the season of their lives as a midfielder duo. It was unbelievable how these two guys together assisted goals, scored goals themselves and took control over the game. They fit perfectly together because De Bruyne has the ability to push the game forward while Gundogan has this defensive element in his game. They complemented each other like it is rarely seen ever.
Real Madrid had a strong midfield for a long time in the same way when you compare it to Kroos and Modric. However, they were not equal to Gundogan and De Bruyne, yet they complemented each other in another perfect way.
This is what Manchester City is lacking a bit this season. The game isn't quite as creative.
Liverpool is behind against Luton
Let's see how that goes!