The events of recent years have shown that it takes something quite exceptional to even threaten the prospect of Manchester City being dethroned as Premier League champions, but for so much of 2022-23, a thrilling challenge from Arsenal was on course to provide it. Showing a level of quality and consistency few would have predicted at the start of the season, the Gunners surprised everyone by leading for most of the way only to be overpowered in the run-in by City, who finished the season like an all-conquering juggernaut to claim their fifth title in six years.
With the 2022 World Cup slap-bang in the middle of it, this was a season unlike any other, and even with the phenomenal Erling Haaland stamping his mark upon the Premier League by breaking just about every goalscoring record in sight, it actually took Man City a long time to truly hit their stride in 2022-23. Some indifferent results in the first half of the campaign allowed Arsenal to build a handsome lead, but just as some were starting to doubt their hopes of lifting the trophy for a third year in a row, Pep Guardiola managed to unlock his team’s full potential.
As City eventually rose to
