Heading into their trip to Crystal Palace on Monday, Manchester City hold a three point-lead over Liverpool, but the Reds' hopes of a slip-up from Pep Guardiola’s men are likely to depend on which team get the first goal in south London.
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Palace have already claimed a shock 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium in October, but to become only the fifth team to do the league double over Guardiola - after Tottenham Hotspur this season, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United in 2019/20 and Chelsea in 2016/17 - Patrick Vieira’s side must avoid allowing Man City to go in front.
So far this season, Man City have led in 22 Premier League matches, without dropping a point in any of them.
No team in the Premier League have ever failed to drop a point from a winning position in a single season before now, giving Guardiola's men the opportunity to make history.
Even Jose Mourinho’s 2004/05 Chelsea side dropped two points, surrendering a 2-0 lead at Stamford Bridge against Bolton Wanderers in November 2004 en route to the title.
Most PL matches led/points dropped
| Club | Season | Matches led | Points dropped |
| MCI | 2021/22 | 22 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHE | 2004/05 | 30 | 2 |
| POR | 2007/08 | 17 | 2 |
| AVL | 1998/99 | 16 | 2 |
| CRY | 1994/95 | 12 | 2 |
| MCI | 2006/07 | 12 | 2 |
| BHA | 2021/22 | 8 | 2 |
Man City and Liverpool are joint-top of the Premier League game-state charts for the amount of time spent leading in matches this season, with 52 per cent.
But, unlike City, Liverpool have dropped 10 points from leading positions in fixtures.
The gap between the top two is three points, with Liverpool set to have a match in hand ahead of a trip to the Etihad Stadium on 10 April.
Even if City win every one of their remaining 10 league matches, they won’t be able to reach their record-breaking 100-point total set in 2017/18, with 99 points the most they can hope for this time around.
Highest PL points totals
| Club | Season | P | W | D | L | Pts | Ppm |
| MCI | 2017/18 | 38 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 100 | 2.63 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LIV | 2019/20 | 38 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 99 | 2.61 |
| MCI | 2018/19 | 38 | 32 | 2 | 4 | 98 | 2.58 |
| LIV | 2018/19 | 38 | 30 | 7 | 1 | 97 | 2.55 |
| CHE | 2004/05 | 38 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 95 | 2.50 |
| MCI | 2021/22 | 28 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 69 | 2.46 |
City’s current points-per-match average (ppm) of 2.46 places them as the sixth-best team in Premier League history based on results.
But, it is likely they can win eight of their remaining 10 matches and become only the sixth team to reach 30 victories in a top-flight campaign.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +73 | 93 |
| 2 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +68 | 92 |
After Liverpool reduced the lead to only three points on Saturday, winning 2-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion, the pressure may be on City, but this team look more than comfortable with being in front.
Matt Furniss is Senior Editor at TheAnalyst.com