Is there a football club more suited to proving that it's not over until it's over than Manchester City?
Other suggestions are welcome, but Paul Dickov, Sergio Aguero and Ilkay Gundogan might disagree.
We're obsessed with declaring things "done and dusted" before they're actually "done and dusted". There's a fine balance between must-win and it not being over until it's actually over.
It's impossible to avoid the nerves and the feeling of impending doom as the season nears its conclusion.
As each match passes, the finishing line gets nearer and fixtures that are billed as "must win" actually become must-win. We're not there yet, but you won't find any City or Arsenal fan thinking all is well with the world if their side don't leave the Etihad with three points on Wednesday.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +61 | 89 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +45 | 84 |
Now: Step forward the gut-wrenching nerves.
"These are the matches you live for!" some will tell you. Don't they know the toll these sort of matches take?
City fans might be seasoned pros at this sort of thing after some mighty tussles with Liverpool in recent years, but that doesn't mean there won't be 50-odd thousand people in the Etihad on Wednesday night spending most of the game queasy.
It might not be over until it's over, but get this one wrong and the margin for error gets narrower.
Pep Guardiola already believes any dropped points in the run-in will be terminal to his title challenge, so to do it against the team you're chasing would be especially damaging.
The fear comes from the question, "What if we lose?"
It's natural to fear the worst. Most teams don't win the title. Even after years of success, that fear still lives in City fans' minds. It's why each and every title or trophy means something because no success is guaranteed.
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It's why, when Guardiola has finished his game of "Pep roulette" and has annoyed every Fantasy Premier League player with his surprise line-up, discussion centres around who is doing what.
Is Bernardo Silva really the left-back up against Bukayo Saka? Is John Stones the right-back or holding midfielder? Why on God's green Earth has he left Erling Haaland on the bench?
Okay, that last one is a bit too far-fetched for an encounter of this magnitude, but there will be a day soon when the "Goalbot" is left out for tactical reasons and there's a meltdown.
Perhaps those who enjoy these big pressure occasions are the ones we should be listening to.
Perhaps the right question is, "What if we win?" For City, it won't mean regaining top spot in the table, but it would mean their destiny is in their control.
The big prize is getting more in focus as it approaches on the horizon and we'll learn a lot on Wednesday night about whether it'll have red or blue ribbons on it by the end of May.
City fans can be confident that their team have been there and done it before, so the hope for the match is simple: Just win, somehow.
City ceded a lot of possession and some control at the Emirates in the reverse fixture, but it was a performance that got the job done - however un-City-like it was.
A repeat of that performance and outcome, while not good for the ol' ticker, would be ideal, thank you very much.
Brace yourselves.
David Mooney is host and producer of "Blue Moon Podcast"
