Aston Villa and Tottenham are the unexpected contenders, with Liverpool leading the way after 20 games and Arsenal in the hunt once again.

Pep Guardiola is all too used to this over the past eight years and won’t be daunted by a five-point gap (especially with a game in hand).

Manchester City are currently aiming to win the Premier League title for a record fourth time in a row which undoubtedly will increase the team's motivation.

Despite a sense that City are not at their best right now, they have still won six of their last seven games in all competitions.

As well as this, Man City will not play another current top-eight side until March 2, this being the Manchester derby.

“I think this team wants even more, we want to have everyone back and I think we will be even better,” Rodri told the BBC prior to Man City’s 2-0 win over Sheffield United.

Here, Vodacom Soccer outlines five reasons why Man City will once again be crowned Kings of England in May.

The thrill of the chase

After 19 games last season, Manchester City were second in the Premier League but were actually further off top spot than they currently are.

Arsenal were in first on 50 points with City in second on 42 points - but Pep Guardiola’s men went on to win the league with ease, finishing five points clear of the Gunners.

Man City went on an unbelievable run towards the end of the season, going unbeaten for 16 games, only losing 1-0 to Brentford on the final day of the season.

In this run, they won 12 of the 16 games and scored an amazing 41 goals.

City managed impressive wins over Liverpool (4-1) and Arsenal (4-1), reaffirming their dominance over their Premier League rivals.

De Bruyne is back

Kevin De Bruyne made his return in City’s fixture against Huddersfield in the FA Cup with an impressive 5-0 win.

It took him just 17 minutes to record his first assist after being back from injury with a lovely cross to Jeremy Doku, who had also just returned from injury.

De Bruyne had been sidelined for five months with a hamstring tear he picked up against Burnley on the first day of the season.

City’s all-round play has, of course, been negatively affected by this as last year he was the top playmaker in the league with 16 assists as well as contributing seven goals to City’s title charge.

In the Premier League, De Bruyne has 240 appearances for Manchester City with an impressive 64 goals and 104 assists in that time.

This puts him fourth in the all-time Premier League assist chart and only one assist behind Wayne Rooney in third, with 251 appearances less than the Manchester United man.

Man City’s win rate with De Bruyne in the team is 73% but drops to 65% when he is not playing.

Interestingly, their average goals conceded per game has also been negatively affected, changing from 0.8 per game with De Bruyne to 1.1 when he is not available.

Full-strength squad

A massive bonus for Man City is the fact they have no players going to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations or the Asian Cup - the only other teams also not affected by these competitions are Newcastle and Burnley.

This will benefit City massively as they are currently still in the FA Cup and Champions League, leading to a high congestion of games over the coming months because they will no doubt go deep in both these competitions.

On top of this, their injury list is shortening quickly. Doku made his return alongside De Bruyne against Huddersfield, managing to get on the scoresheet with a lovely volley.

Bernardo Silva sat out the FA Cup game due to illness, but is expected to be fit in no time. Erling Haaland's return is also imminent, and he is currently in training again.

“Erling is a little better, his bone, so we need to be careful,” Pep was quoted saying when discussing Haaland's injury. “He has had two or three sessions and feels good. Hopefully, he can play soon but, I don’t know for Sunday or for Newcastle.”

Underlying numbers

Man City’s stats in the Premier League this season will fill fans with confidence as they top most metrics in the league.

They have the highest rating per game of any team with an average of 7.31 (rating from Fotmob). This beats out Tottenham in second place with an average of 7.18.

Manchester City also have the highest average goals per match with 2.4, 0.2 higher than second-placed Aston Villa.

To continue the impressive list, City can also boast the highest average possession (63.8%) as well as the most shots on target per match (6.7).

If the fans weren’t feeling good about their team's chances before seeing these stats, then one look through this list will boost their confidence massively.

Pep Guardiola

Saving the best reason until last, we have Guardiola, a serial winner who has won everything in a career spanning 25 years where he started at Barcelona B in 2007.

Over the course of his illustrious career, he has won three Champions Leagues, four FIFA Club World Cups, five Premier League trophies, three German championships, three Spanish championships, four UEFA Super Cups and 15 top tier cup competitions across Germany, Spain and England.

This list of accolades shows Pep’s ability to win constantly and is another factor working in Man City’s favour when it comes to getting over the finishing line first in a title race.

The fact that he can make history this season by winning a fourth Premier League title in a row will be driving him on more than most to secure this record.

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Five reasons why Man City will win the Premier League title (again)...