5 reasons behind Manchester City’s Premier League success

Manchester City have dominated English football over the past two seasons and, after winning the Premier League on Sunday, are now on course for a domestic treble.

A 4-1 win at Brighton saw them edge Liverpool to the title by a single point ahead of next weekend’s FA Cup final against Watford.

Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at the reasons behind their success.

Strong infrastructure and financial resources

Players rising to the challenge

Bringing in Guardiola is not an instant guarantee of success. Players have needed to respond. Last season Kevin De Bruyne did so magnificently, proving almost unstoppable as City clocked up a record 100 points. This season, Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva have stepped up to another level. There are so few weaknesses in the team.

Experienced core continuing to deliver

Another notable player to have excelled under Guardiola is Sergio Aguero. The Argentinian did not seem an obvious fit for Guardiola’s team at first despite his prolific record, but he has adapted and become an even better player. His 32 goals this season take his record City tally to 231. There has been less reliance in this campaign on two other experienced campaigners – Vincent Kompany and David Silva – as the squad evolves, but they remain key members of it.

Who can stop them?

This is a huge challenge for the rest of the Premier League. Liverpool are obviously the best placed to challenge after running them so close this term, finishing just a point behind, but it remains to be seen whether Jurgen Klopp’s men can go again. Tottenham did derail them in the Champions League, but Spurs’ consistency over the season was lacking. The rest have a lot of ground to make up and it seems unlikely they can close that gap in the near future.