Hart admitted that more of Manuel Pellegrini’s side need to play to their potential following their latest scare against manager-less Swansea last weekend, when it took a deflected last-minute goal to take all three points.
Advertisement
City – who face second-placed Arsenal on Monday night – remain narrow favourites to be crowned champions for a third time. Southampton has 21 points on the season ahead of West Brom, while Bournemouth and Newcastle have 16 points each.
Yet what they have shown since is that, despite the huge sums that have been invested in the team and claiming two Premier League title wins in the last four seasons, they lack the steel that the great championship-winning teams have possessed.
Joe Hart is demanding a major improvement in performances if Manchester City are to repeat their Premier League title wins of 2012 and 2014.
The Foxes, like Watford and Swansea, have only appeared in three live games, although they are the only club with an unbeaten record having defeated Aston Villa and Chelsea and drawn with Manchester United.
Leicester City’s dynamic duo, Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, both scored against Chelsea, and share the top 2 spots in the EA Sports Premier League Player Rankings. Their patchy form has coincided with the absence of captain Vincent Kompany, with Manchester City’s defence looking vulnerable and error-prone without their instrumental leader. Those predictions are in tatters now, but the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal should not be ruled out. Similarly, Arsenal will be hoping that Sánchez has enough time to regain fitness after his hamstring injury. The game will likely come too soon for Mikel Arteta to make a return from a calf strain, while Arsenal will have to wait until 2016 to see the return of Santi Cazorla (knee), Francis Coquelin (knee), Jack Wilshere (calf/shin), Thomas Rosicky (knee) and Danny Welbeck (knee). Behind Arsenal, Manchester United are foundering and Chelsea are in disarray.
Advertisement
“They score goals, so there is always a chance, but some of their rivals have much more depth in their squads, which always counts over the course of a full season”.
