Man City strengthens the EPL title with an 8 point lead

Manchester City’s grab for the Premier League title hasn’t been as strong all season.

After a 1-0 win at Brentford and a 1-1 draw by Chelsea in stoppage time against Brighton, the defending champions started the new year eight points ahead.

It was an almost perfect 24 hours for City, in which Liverpool – another rival for the title – surprisingly lost 1-0 in injury-prone Leicester on Tuesday. Chelsea have moved one point ahead of third-placed Liverpool ahead of Sunday’s clash at Stamford Bridge, where at least one of the teams will lose points.

Liverpool have a game in hand but will soon lose star strikers Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to the African Cup of Nations.

City were not at their best against Brentford – Pep Guardiola’s side came into play after scoring 17 goals in their last three games – but enough to claim their tenth straight league win.

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Phil Foden grabbed the winning goal in the 16th minute and steered a Kevin De Bruyne cross into the net from close range. The video review showed that Foden was in the process of applying the finish.

It was the perfect way for Foden to celebrate his return to the starting XI alongside Jack Grealish after both strikers were thrown on the bench on disciplinary grounds for City’s last two games.

CHELSEA REJECTED

There are three draws in four league games for Chelsea, whose strong form has disappeared at the beginning of the season.

Danny Welbeck gave Brighton a well-deserved point earned from the visitors’ performance in the second half when he headed a Marc Cucurella cross in the first minute of stoppage time

Romelu Lukaku scored for the second straight time and gave Chelsea the lead in the 28th minute.

To make matters worse for Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel was the sight of right full-back Reece James, who hobbled with a hamstring injury in the middle of the first half. Chelsea also had to replace another defender, Andreas Christensen, at halftime due to an injury.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80