ANY team would suffer from the loss of Erling Haaland. He is, after all, a striker who scored a record-breaking 36 goals in his first Premier League season. Manchester City certainly have other world class players, but Haaland is the component that makes the machine work. Without him, City could malfunction.

Of course, City won a Premier League title without a recognised centre forward two seasons ago. They also have World Cup-winner Julian Alvarez to move into the number nine position while Haaland is sidelined. Nonetheless, Haaland’s foot injury could blow this season’s Premier League title race wide open.

Even with Haaland in the team, Manchester City have failed to meet the standards they set for themselves last season. Their recent performances have been substandard with last week’s limp defeat to Aston Villa highlighting a dramatic drop-off in all areas of City’s game. In attack, they look blunter. In defence, they are more vulnerable.

Sunday’s display against Luton Town underlined these struggled. While Manchester City left Kenilworth Road with three points to end a run of four league matches without a win, they looked toothless for much of the match. By pushing Alvarez further forward, City lost his movement around the edge of the box.

Meanwhile, Arsenal and Liverpool are building momentum with almost every match they play. The Gunners also haven’t reached the heights of last season, but there’s a sense Mikel Arteta’s team are pacing themselves. That Arsenal are just one point off the top of the table despite not finding top form says a lot about how far they have come.

The same could be said of Liverpool. Last season, Jurgen Klopp’s team seemed to have reached the end of a cycle. The summer transfer window saw the Anfield club rebuild its midfield unit with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita pushed out and Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai signed in their place.

Many expected this season to be a transition one for Liverpool, and there have been signs that they are still adapting to a slightly new shape which gives Trent Alexander-Arnold the freedom to push into the centre of the pitch. However, the Reds are closer to the finished product than many predicted they would be by this stage. As table-toppers, they have to be taken seriously as title challengers.

At this point, Aston Villa also deserve to be mentioned as bona fide members of the title race. Their recent wins over Manchester City and Arsenal have highlighted the progress made by the Villa Park outfit – only City have won more Premier League points in 2023 than Unai Emery’s team. They have now won 15 matches in succession at home. This is no flash in the plan.

Beyond the current top four, it’s difficult to envisage Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United or Newcastle United having the consistent form to challenge for the title, but a prolonged spell on the sidelines for Haaland could shake up the top end of the table. All it might take is a run of victories from one team to change the landscape.

City have won five Premier League titles in six years and so muscle memory might still carry them over the line. They know what it takes to clinch silverware more than any other team in English and European football right now. We’ve seen struggles in the first half of seasons from them before only for Guardiola to tighten things up down the home stretch.

Never before, however, have Manchester City demonstrated such fundamental flaws this far into a campaign and Haaland’s absence will only give Guardiola another problem to solve. Sign of weakness should be a catalyst for the rest of the Premier League. They might not get a better chance to topple City.

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