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The Blues find themselves just three points out of the Premier League lead jointly held by Arsenal and Leicester City despite having lost FIVE times in the first half of the season. In the last 14 matches, the Blues have five losses, three draws and just six wins, yet remain very much on pace to potentially win a third league title in five seasons.
Here are some positives working in the Blues favor:
- Manchester City faces each of the other top 6 sides (Arsenal, Leicester, Spurs, Palace and Manchester United) at home in the second half of the season.
- The Blues are finally healthy with the exception of Vincent Kompany and Samir Nasri.
- Sergio Aguero has yet to find his scoring form this season, but every year he has played in England he enjoys a spurt of goals in the second half of the season, if he stays fit.
- Fernandinho is playing very well in a box-to-box role reminiscent of his fine play two seasons ago when the Blues won the league.
- Yaya Toure is showing signs of hunger again and a motivated Toure usually means a winning City.
- The top of the Premier League is the weakest it has been in two decades.
Here are some negatives:
- Only six wins in the last 14 matches indicates indifferent form.
- The strikers have failed to show any consistency this season
- The Blues build up while quicker this season thanks to Raheem Sterling and increased playing time for Jesus Navas has not yielded better chances for the strikers.
- Team spirit seems to be lacking all too often this season.
- While the central defense has gotten a lot of blame, the fullbacks have been hit or miss and central midfield beyond Fernandinho inconsistent.
- Arsenal have passed the Blues in the table despite having some head-scratching results and lots of key injuries. If the Gunners get fit they might run away from City and the rest of the league.
- The continued talk of Manuel Pellegrini being a lame-duck has not helped the team.
What are our readers thoughts on the second half of the season?