Manchester City has five players who could miss out on a medal if they win the Premier League title. The Citizens will win the title for the fourth time in five years if they beat Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium this afternoon.
The city has been in scintillating form this season and has dominated the Premier League once again. They looked to be running away with the title at the turn of the year and amassed a 14-point advantage over Liverpool in January after their victory over Chelsea. But the Reds have taken the title race down to the final day following a resurgence of form during the second half of the campaign as they have cut their deficit to a solitary point.
The city is still the big favorite to land silverware and will be celebrating once again if they do get the better of Villa or if Liverpool slip-up. But young stars Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Kayky, Liam Delap, and CJ Egan-Riley could all miss out on a medal as they have not played five top-flight games this season.
The Premier League hands out 40 medals to the team that has won the title. But their rules stipulate that outfield players need to have featured in five matches to be eligible for one, while goalkeepers only need to have appeared in one encounter.
Attacking midfielder McAtee has appeared as a substitute in two top-flight matches this season, while winger Kayky, striker Delap and defender Egan-Riley have only pulled on the City shirt once in the Premier League since the season got underway in August. So they are definitely out of the running for a medal.
Palmer, meanwhile, has played in four matches so is currently in line to be overlooked. But if he makes it onto the pitch this afternoon, he will be handed a medal if the result goes in his side’s favor.
The city could have all but secured the title last weekend if they had beaten West Ham at the London Stadium – but Guardiola’s side was held to a 2-2 draw. And ex-Barcelona manager Guardiola admits his side is preparing for their season-deciding game in the same way as usual.
“It’s difficult to control emotions, you know what you’re playing for,” the Spaniard told reporters on Friday. “At the end, we play just a football game. We are not going to do something new. We arrive two to three hours before, and we prepare versus Villa as we do always – go to the plan and beat Aston Villa. In the end, we can make theories but it’s just a football game.”
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