PHIL FODEN

(AP Photo/Ian Walton) (Ian Walton)Manchester City's grip on its Premier League title hasn't been this strong all season. It has been an almost perfect 24 hours for City, which saw Liverpool — another rival for the title — surprisingly lose 1-0 at injury-hit Leicester on Tuesday. "There are 54 points still to play for.”Yet City is even winning when not playing its best. CHELSEA DENIEDIt's three draws in four league matches for Chelsea, whose strong early-season form has disappeared. Tuchel sounded like he has given up on winning the title, given the number of his players out through injury and illness.

Britain Soccer Premier League Manchester City's Phil Foden celebrates after teammate Aymeric Laporte scored a goal that was later disallowed by VAR during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Manchester City at the Brentford Community Stadium in London, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ian Walton) (Ian Walton)Manchester City's grip on its Premier League title hasn't been this strong all season. A 1-0 win at Brentford, coupled with Chelsea conceding a stoppage-time goal to draw 1-1 against Brighton, left the defending champions with an eight-point lead heading into the new year. It has been an almost perfect 24 hours for City, which saw Liverpool — another rival for the title — surprisingly lose 1-0 at injury-hit Leicester on Tuesday. CHELSEA DENIEDIt's three draws in four league matches for Chelsea, whose strong early-season form has disappeared.

Manchester City’s grip on its Premier League title hasn’t been this strong all season.

Chelsea and Manchester City didn’t field a recognized striker between them yet still combined for 11 goals in ominous displays by the two title contenders in the Premier League.

There was a goal rush in the Champions League and it was no surprise to see Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah among the scorers.

Mohamed Salah was too busy being asked about his wonder goal against Manchester City to get the chance to savor it again for himself after full time at Anfield.

Britain Soccer Premier League Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield, Liverpool, England, Sunday Oct. 3, 2021. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP) (Peter Byrne)LIVERPOOL, England — (AP) — Anfield had only five minutes to celebrate and savor the individual genius of Mohamed Salah before the Liverpool fans were silenced. A high ball over the top from Manchester City captain Kevin De Bruyne on the halfway line reached Phil Foden on the left flank. A second half of high quality saw the winners of the last two Premier League titles draw 2-2 on Sunday after Rodri made a late intervention to prevent Fabinho scoring a winner for Liverpool. The moment of brilliance from Salah came in the 76th as he weaved his way into the penalty area, skipping past City players and undeterred by a push from Foden before restoring Liverpool's lead.

Kevin De Bruyne scored Manchester City's second equalizer in the front of the Kop to secure a 2-2 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League.

Manchester City’s players fell behind during a game in the English League Cup for the first time in nearly four years but immediately put that right.

The European Championship final between Italy and England at Wembley Stadium on Sunday has all the makings of a tight and tense title match.

The all-English Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea contains some intriguing matchups and themes.

Now known as the "dirty dozen," 12 powerful European soccer clubs tried to form their own enclosed league.

Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson stands on the pitch during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. Leicester moved three points ahead of Liverpool in third after drawing 0-0 with Wolverhampton. AdOn a freezing day across England, Klopp could only figure that the icy conditions were to blame for a blundering performance by goalkeeper Alisson Becker that proved so costly. It was only 35 days earlier that a 3-1 win at Chelsea took City to fifth, four points behind then-leader Liverpool with a game in hand. Jorginho’s 58th-minute penalty clinched the win over the last-place team after Timo Werner was brought down by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe, center, battles for the ball with Southampton's James Ward-Prowse, left, and Stuart Armstrong during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round soccer match at St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, England, Saturday Jan. 23, 2021. (Catherine Ivill/PA via AP)SOUTHAMPTON – Last season’s FA Cup winner Arsenal was eliminated from the competition in the fourth round on Saturday thanks to Gabriel’s own-goal in a 1-0 loss to Southampton, while Manchester City survived a scare to beat fourth-tier Cheltenham 3-1. In an otherwise close game, Gabriel's decision to try to block a shot from Kyle Walker-Peters proved decisive for Arsenal losing its hold on the cup. It was the first goal Arsenal had conceded since Dec. 26 after five consecutive shutouts. CITY UNDER PRESSURECheltenham came close to one of the biggest shocks in the 150-year history of the FA Cup before Pep Guardiola's City team scored three late goals.

James Rodriguez joined Premier League club Everton on Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 in an attempt to revive a career that faltered at Real Madrid. Now, they are both at Everton, a team without a trophy since 1995 and living in the shadow of neighbour Liverpool, the recently crowned Premier League champion. KAI HAVERTZ (Chelsea)The most expensive signing of the offseason at a fee rising to $92 million, Havertz might also be the most interesting. Havertz is the youngest player to reach 100 Bundesliga appearances and scored 36 goals in four seasons with Bayer Leverkusen in the German league. With Timo Werner, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech making up Chelsea's likely attack, Havertz won't be short of quality around him.

(Adrian Dennis/Pool via AP)WATFORD As the ball rolled past him and Manchester City's score racked up, goalkeeper Ben Foster increasingly feared for Watford's Premier League survival. It wasn't even lifted by Watford's last desperate roll of the dice firing its third manager of the season. Sterling set up the third when his close-range shot was saved by Foster Watford's star performer and Phil Foden tapped into an empty net in the 63rd minute. Javi Gracia was still at the helm when City crushed Watford 6-0 in the final game of last season in the FA Cup final. The Champions League doesn't resume until August when City will be protecting a 2-1 lead over Real Madrid in the last-16.

(AP Photo/Peter Powell,Pool)Aston Villa is out of the Premier Leagues relegation zone for the first time in five months. The fight to avoid dropping out of the worlds richest domestic league is heading to the final day of the season, with two relegation places still to be filled and three clubs in realistic danger. Arsenal lost to a relegation contender two days after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup semifinals, highlighting the inconsistency that still bedevils Mikel Artetas team. CITY ROUTIf Watford does go down, at least it wont have to play Manchester City next season. Kevin De Bruyne provided the cross for Laportes goal for his 19th assist of the season, one off Thierry Henrys record for one season.

Manchester United's Mason Greenwood celebrates after scoring a goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Bournemouth at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, July 4, 2020. (Peter Powell/Pool via AP)Some of the top Premier League teams are putting their faith in youth in the high-stakes finale to the longest-ever soccer season in England. Jamie Vardy passed the 100-goal mark in Premier League goals by netting twice as Leicester beat Crystal Palace 3-0 for its first win since the restart. With five more rounds left, Leicester stayed a point clear of Chelsea and three points ahead of fifth-place Manchester United. Finishing in sixth will earn the team a berth in the Europa League next season, as may seventh.

Manchester City's Raheem Sterling, second right, celebrates after his team's fourth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Liverpool at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Thursday, July 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Laurence Griffiths,Pool)MANCHESTER Even a 4-0 drubbing is forgivable for Jrgen Klopp now the Premier League trophy has been sealed. Its a reminder of how good Man City is, Klopp said. Were going in a direction thats really bad for the beautiful game, Mourinho said, the game that everybody fell in love with.Still, Mourinho did not want his players using that frustration as an excuse. After reaching last seasons Champions League final losing to Liverpool Tottenham might not qualify for any European competition next season.