A Manchester City title is usually preceded by a lengthy run of victories but, once more, this English Premier League season the champions have been unable to string together a victorious sequence.

After beating Aston Villa and then Arsenal to go top, a third victory in a row seemed inevitable as they dominated hosts Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. But, from an Expected Goals (xG) score of 2.54 they managed only one goal, and Chris Wood punished their profligacy with a late equaliser from Forest’s only shot on target.

“In the first half, it should already be two or three-zero, we conceded one shot on target and we dropped points,” lamented Man City manager Pep Guardiola. “It was a brilliant performance, we played really good but we didn’t score. We have to score.”

Man City fans are awaiting the customary run of victories that ushers in a title triumph. They had one such sequence of 12 last season, 16 in 2020-22, 13 in 2018-19 and 18 in 2017-18. But this season, the champions’ longest string of successive wins is three, which they have managed only twice.

This inconsistency is reminiscent of their 2019-20 form when their best five-match winning streak only came at the end of the season after the Premier League Trophy had already gone to Liverpool.

Former City goalkeeper Shay Given says Guardiola’s side must go on another double-digit streak of wins if they are to regain the title.

“They won at Arsenal in midweek but again, they haven’t backed it up at Forest,” he said.

Man City’s longest winning runs

SeasonLongest winning runFinal pos.

2016-1763rd

2017-18181st

2018-19141st

2019-2052nd

2020-21151st

2021-22121st

2022-233?