Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand insists Manchester City have done enough to retain the Premier League title this season following their 1-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday.
City moved 13 points clear of the Blues in the race for top spot thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s excellent second-half strike, which was enough to seal a 12th successive league triumph.
Although Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Brentford on Sunday reduced City’s lead at the top to 11 points, it is hard to see Pep Guardiola’s side, certainly on current form, slipping up in their quest to retain their crown for another year.
Having moved one step nearer with victory over Chelsea, former United man Ferdinand believes City have done enough to get themselves over the line, whilst hailing their winning mentality under Guardiola.
“The league is done,” Ferdinand told Vibe with Five. “City, for staters, are now on a 12-game winning streak and six of those games they have won by one goal.
“They just do enough. They are not exerting any more energy than they need to, they’re doing enough and they are getting the job done.
“What I like about Pep, when he was speaking after the game, is that he said the great thing he likes about this team is their ability to keep churning out wins, in terms of trophies as well, over a sustained period of time that he has been there.
“It is not just one season on, one season off, they have done it every year.”
De Bruyne’s excellent, match-winning strike against his former club was his fourth goal in his last six Premier League appearances, highlighting that he is getting back to his best form.
Following the win at the weekend, Guardiola admitted that he wants De Bruyne to continue in the same vein of form. Should that be the case, Ferdinand believes the Belgian could be the difference in City’s attempts to win their very first Champions League title this season.
Ferdinand added: “Someone like Kevin De Bruyne could be the difference between them winning the Champions League and them not, because of that individual brilliance that he has got.
“Pep was saying that he is going to put individual demands on De Bruyne to do more of that, saying ‘I need more of that from him to win games’.
“I know he means big games. Like, for example, the Chelsea game at the weekend was a massive game to really put the nail in the coffin in one of their opponents.
“De Bruyne stepped up and Pep said he wants to see more of that.”
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