No one lost, and everyone lost. The biggest remaining game of the Premier League season -- Arsenal vs. Manchester City this past Sunday -- was a dud.
In the 2023-24 season, the average match is featuring 27 shots and three-plus goals. Everyone, up and down the table, is scoring goals for fun. But in the second match between arguably the two best teams in the league? Arsenal and Man City combined for 18 attempts and not a single goal. Their three combined shots on target was tied for the fewest of any match this season.
We waited two weeks for that? And for what?
Liverpool's 2-1 win against Brighton earlier in the day ultimately gave them a two-point lead on the Premier League table over second-place Arsenal, and a three-point cushion on third-place City. But, although Arsenal lost ground in the table, this match wasn't a failure for them. Their previous two games at the Etihad were a 4-1 and a 5-0 loss -- a dull 0-0 draw is progress.
However, this was supposed to be the moment where Man City stopped messing around, flipped the switch and eviscerated the rest of the league like they always do. Instead, Sunday's game -- combined with the match at Anfield on the previous Premier League match day -- seemed to confirm the opposite: both Arsenal and Liverpool have caught up to Manchester City.
How did Man City -- the team that won the treble just a year ago and was rightfully referred to as the greatest English club side of all time -- lose their lead so suddenly? It starts and ends with what happened last summer. Here's why and how one transfer window from last year is deciding the Premier League title race right now.