Dominance is all down to how well Pep shuffles pack

IT isn’t luck that Manchester City have coped better with Covid conditions than anyone else. The style of play under Pep Guardiola conserves energy and has allowed them to win 12 games in a row during a pandemic period of fixture congestion and enforced withdrawals.

The way they’ve built the squad means anyone can miss a game — even their best player Kevin De Bruyne — and they can handle it. Other teams are considerably weaker without certain players.

Yesterday’s win was so controlled and dominant. Raheem Sterling was left out at the start of the season and looked fresh and lively with Riyad Mahrez away at the African Cup of Nations.

Sterling has been in such good form he has just been voted Player of the Month.

I wondered if they’d regret leaving their defensive leader Ruben Dias on the bench but apart from one chance for Romelu Lukaku, you hardly noticed he was absent.

At times they’ve been able to win without De Bruyne because they have Ilkay Gundogan to come in.

But to make a statement of intent against the European champions, De Bruyne started and was the best player on the pitch.

His game intelligence is incredible. If Chelsea played high, he found ways of running in behind. If they dropped off and left space, he could pick up the ball deeper and cause havoc that way. It’s how he scored the winner.

It was probably his best display of the season because Guardiola is able to pace his players through a tough campaign better than anyone else.

We all wanted a three-horse title race but City are so good, it won’t be possible. I think Chelsea’s challenge is done now and while I wouldn’t write off Liverpool completely because they have two games in hand and still have to play City, it’s going to be extremely difficult.

Whoever you support, you’ve got to admire City’s quality. They played with a freedom against Chelsea and the way they kept the ball was an important lesson for teams who are concerned about their players getting fatigued by having to run and win back possession all the time.