Pep Guardiola was not waving the white flag after Manchester City suffered a late and controversial collapse against Manchester United, but nor was he tubthumping.City were 12 minutes away from a restorative victory at Old Trafford after Jack Grealish came off the bench to open the scoring.But Bruno Fernandes fired United level after Marcus Rashford left the ball for his teammate and was adjudged not to have interfered with or affected play from a clearly offside position. Rashford then continued his phenomenal run of form with his eighth goal in seven outings since the World Cup.If we dont win, we dont win. We are not going to win every title for the next 25 years. We will fight because we saw today that we want to fight and played to win. But sometimes football is like that, you dont win, Guardiola said, knowing his side could John Taylor T Shirts be eight points behind leaders Arsenal by the end of the weekend.Of course we want to try but what I want is to behave in this way. Sometimes it will happen, sometimes not. I know all the time you have to be better to win this league.MORE:City have certainly not been in the same mood as their tormentor Rashford since the post-Qatar resumption. There have been impre sive wins over Liverpool and Chelsea in the cups, while Leeds were dealt with expertly at a hostile Elland Road.Yet crisis club Everton left Etihad Stadium with a battling point and Guardiola was rightly scathing over his teams efforts in the abject 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton that preceded the trip acro s town.City have won four of the past five Premier League titles, which might Joe Montana Hoodies Sweatshirts explain Guardiolas phlegmatic outlook. The previous team to win three in a row were Alex Fergusons United between 2006/07 and 2008/09. The short answer is obviously yes. Citys current trajectory is not helpful but in the hours after their defeat at Old Trafford, still had Guardiolas side listed as narrow favourites (10/11) ahead of Arsenal (11/10), with United coming in (10/1) in the betting.In this equation, Citys recent history of getting the job done time and again is given due weight. But there are still factors within their le s-than-ideal present that can alter the picture.Man City still have to play Arsenal twice (thrice, in fact)The unusual configuration of this season either side of a World Cup and the postponement of a raft of games around the time of Queen Elizabeth IIs death means the City vs. Arsenal title battle has so far taken place at a distance.A rearranged clash at Emirates Stadium takes place on February 15, while Arsenal might have to head to east Manchester on April 26 with everything up for grabs.Before that, the sides meet in an intriguing FA Cup clash on January 27. City will have plenty of opportunities to make a direct impre sion upon Arsenal. The ground lost this winter means they must.Lads, its TottenhamAll roads lead to north London over the next few weeks when it comes to Citys path to the title. They are back in action on Thursday against Antonio Contes Tottenham Hotspur, another team they are yet to face in 2022/23.That one certainly requires a change of fortune. Even when City were tearing up theopposition domestically, they still generally found time to lose to Spurs.Over the past three seasons, Citys Premier League record in these fixtures is one win, one draw and four lo ses, despite Spurs sacking three managers during this period. Contes future remains up in the air, so perhaps hes facing Guardiola at the perfect time.City will certainly feel that they owe Spurs one acro s the games on January 19 and February 5. Before that, Spurs host Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday. What Contes men get out of those three games will have a gigantic impact on the title picture.City have C.J. Beathard Jersey Erling Haaland... and Julian AlvarezThe Manchester derby was Haalands third game and second start without a goal. Call off the tests, hes a human and not a mad goals robot.The 22-year-old was a bit of a peripheral figure at Old Trafford, and he has not returned to top gear since the mid-season break.Still, he did score four times in three games after the resumption and has 27 in 24 appearances overall. Its an absurd record and any team near the top with such a player in their ranks has a big chance of succe s.City do need to spark things around Haaland a little more than they're managing right now. For all their impre sive control during the second half at Old Trafford, they had an expected goals figure of 0.65 according to Opta. In general, chances have not been flowing as much away from home.The solution might come in finding a way to give Julian Alvarez a little more game time. Guardiola and club captain Ilkay Gundogan have suggested over the past week that attitude, body language and low mood is an i sue for some in the squad.Not for Alvarez, buoyed by his role in Argentinas World Cup triumph and an effervescent presence whenever he is on the pitch. Not for the first time this season, he could be the man to ignite a team wearing sky blue and white. (Getty Images) Guardiola can bring back Aymeric LaporteSpanish centre-back Laporte was a towering figure in last seasons titanic title battle with Liverpool. This time around, he has made just Dwight Clark Jersey four Premier League appearances and not featured at all in the top flight since the World Cup.This is predominantly down to the after-effects of knee surgery but City are also well-stocked at centre-back. Ruben Dias and John Stones mi sed the derby through injury, with Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji impre sive in their absence (Akanji even expertly played Rashford offside for the United equaliser).But Laportes penetrative range of pa sing with his wand of a left foot give City a different dimension. It makes it harder for teams to sit in and hold their shape, and moving opposition defences around means Haaland can be found in more promising positions as opposed to having pa ses hopefully punted in his direction when the tide turns.MORE:Arsenal and United are not Jurgen Klopps LiverpoolIf City had only won two-thirds of their games near the halfway point of the campaign over recent seasons, they would have had to forget about the title.The duels with Jurgen Klopps Liverpool made 90 points feel like a minimum requirement. The sapping effects of the 2021/22 title battle have been easy to see in both teams this time around, although Liverpools decline is more visible on account of them slumping into mid-table.City are hanging in there. Not for Jerry Rice Hoodies Sweatshirts much longer if themselves and Arsenal stay on their present courses, but we do not know yet whether that is viable for Mikel Artetas side.If the Gunners keep pocketing points at their current rate, they will storm to that new City and Liverpool benchmark and be crowned champions. If they wobble, a mid-80s haul might be enough bringing City, and United for that m