I don't think the premier league has become more competitive as Manchester city dominance has reduced but I think Manchester city are in a bad form because some of their key players aren't available for them to be used and Pep Guadiola doesn't have other better options to use and this is making him to lose games that were previously easy for him to win. We have more quality managers in the premier league now but let us wait for when Manchester city are back in form as their injured players return before we can see how the league is going to be before we can make conclusions. When Manchester city are in form, I don't think any manager can defeat them.
Exactly the same is what Liverpool experienced a few seasons ago and Arsenal some time ago many players were injured so they lost and now Manchester City is experiencing ups and downs due to the players missing their injuries, this is difficult if the main players are absent, therefore poor performance is still reasonable their strength is reduced.
Manchester City's point difference from Liverpool is not much different, in addition to the League matches still long there is still a possibility that Manchester City can dominate again but for me the tight competition will continue with Liverpool where this team is great with Arne Slot.