EPL: Manchester City's Away Form Has All but Cost Them Their Title Chance

You've got to hand it to Manchester City—they've had some season in the Premier League this year.

They went undefeated until the beginning of December, and by the time the new year had come around, they had recorded just the single loss.

At the Etihad Stadium, they've been simply unstoppable all year. The Citizens haven't dropped a point at home, are averaging nearly three goals per game and are conceding less than a goal every two games.

As I said, you've got to hand it to Manchester City.

Yet for all the success and dominance of their season so far, the Citizens sit three points behind Manchester United in second place, with their trophy chances slipping further away every week.

Their away form has been far from clinical—especially for a side that claims to be a genuine contender for the Premier League title. They've had four draws as well as four losses, and their attacking flair has significantly decreased.

Throw in to that the fact that they've conceded almost double the amount of goals away from home and suddenly, separate from the Etihad, City don't like the City we've all season at all.

They don't look dominating; they don't look threatening.

They look exposed, and doesn't the Premier League know it.

With just eight matches remaining, the Citizens must find a way to come away with the points when they're not at home—a task not helped by their remaining schedule.

After an imposing home match against Sunderland, Manchester City must travel to Arsenal and try and walk away with three points against a side playing at home with Champions League aspirations on the line. Oh, and the Gunners have had just two losses at home this year and are currently on a seven-game winning streak.

They then play away matches to both Norwich and Wolverhampton—the type of matches we expect the Citizens to win, but the type of match we have seen them falter in all season long.

They should walk away with the points in these matches—"should" being the key word there.

Their second-to-last match of the year comes against Newcastle, who may still technically be in the hunt for the Champions League next year. And even if their not, expect the Magpies to be bringing their best football for their final match of the year in front of their home fans.

If Manchester City are to win the English Premier League in 2012—which they still can do—they must do more than win at home; they must be as good (if not better) on the road.

And sadly, we've seen this year that they aren't.

It's as simple as that: they simply aren't good enough away from home to warrant a genuine threat to Manchester United for the rest of the season.

Their last nine matches on the road have yielded nine points—two wins and three draws, as well as four losses against them and as a championship contender, they can't churn out those results and still expect to win the league.

Perhaps most scarily for the Citizens is that in those nine matches, all their attacking brilliance and supposed dominance has found the back of the net on just five occasions.

Compare that to United, whose last nine away matches has yielded 22 goals to their name and most importantly, 22 Premiership points. It's little wonder then that the Citizens have surrendered the top of the table to United and appear no real threat to climbing back on top.

You've really got to hand it to Manchester City, you really do.

But be warned when you do hand it to them.

They'll probably just hand it straight over to United.

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