sport news Manchester City are on a new level and can make history

In his first season at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola was left bristling after a 4-2 defeat at Leicester which painted him as some kind of tiki-taka purist devoid of any defensive awareness. 'I am not a coach for the tackles,' he retorted rather petulantly.

How satisfying therefore that his City team on Sunday stand on the brink of true greatness after a run of scorelines more associated with Jose Mourinho.

They have won no fewer than four games 1-0 since the start of last month and another against Brighton on Sunday would see them become the first Premier League champions for a decade to retain their title. 

Manchester City have had an amazing attacking season but their defence has been miserly too

Manchester City have had an amazing attacking season but their defence has been miserly too

One more victory after that in next weekend's FA Cup final with Watford and Pep's City would become the first team in English football history to win a clean sweep of three domestic trophies in the same season.

'To be champions you have to score a lot of goals but also concede few,' says Guardiola, who appears just as happy to gain respect for toughing games out as filtering the genius of Lionel Messi, Arjen Robben or Kevin De Bruyne.

'We have one of the best averages in restricting shots on target for the opposition,' he adds. 'Being so solid is the key point and it has to be the same for our last league game.

'Brighton are so good at set-pieces with [Shane] Duffy and the other guys so avoid giving fouls otherwise it will be tough, just like at Burnley with Ashley Barnes.'

City won that trip to Turf Moor 1-0 and share the best defensive record in the league with Liverpool. Both clubs have shipped only 22 goals in 37 games, reflecting that Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are more than just brilliant attacking coaches. The next best defence, Tottenham's, have conceded 15 more.

The final Premier League game will be Man City's 60th of the season, fighting on four fronts

The final Premier League game will be Man City's 60th of the season, fighting on four fronts

Sunday afternoon is City's 60th game in a season where they have fought for silverware on four fronts. They blitzed the first half of the season through the firepower of Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane but have had to adapt as limbs became heavier in recent weeks.

Aguero has scored only twice in his last seven games, Bernardo and Sane three in 14 between them, and Sterling not at all in four.

Yet victories have kept coming, even though key midfielders Fer-nandinho and De Bruyne have also missed out through injury. It is partly due to the excellence of Ederson, the return to form of Kyle Walker, the consistency of Aymeric Laporte and long-range shooting of skipper Vincent Kompany, but also the tenacity of the whole team.

'The margins can be very small at this time of the season. All that matters is three points,' says the slightly built but workaholic Bernardo on the mentality that sees City's technical players also dig in.

'Against Leicester, we were aggressive with the ball and without. We need to be like that against Brighton, another tough game we need to win to be champions again.

'As players, you can feel nervous on the

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