Here we look at our manager’s incredible record of sustained Premier League success...
Without doubt, City have been the Premier League’s best side since Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium, winning five of the seven titles.
After taking over in 2016, Guardiola oversaw a season of transition in 2016/17 before lifting his first title in 2017/18. Since then, we have only missed out on the top spot in one campaign.
Our 2022/23 success made it three triumphs in three seasons, with the prospect of becoming the first club in English football to win four successive top flight leagues in 2023/24.
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The Catalan has smashed a number of Premier League records along the way, becoming the fastest manager to 100 home wins (128 matches) and claiming the most wins in his first 250 games (184).
Here we’ll take a look at the standard City have set in Guardiola’s seven seasons in England…
Overall Premier League table
City have amassed a total of 625 points since the start of 2016/17, 50 more than Liverpool in second.
Manchester United are third with 489 points, 136 behind City. Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea are level on 486 while the 2022/23 challengers Arsenal have 478.
Our total equals out to an average of 89.3 points per season.
Guardiola’s first title in 2017/18 came with a Premier League points record as we racked up a century, an amazing 19 points better than second placed Manchester United.
We followed that success up in 2018/19 by edging out Liverpool to the title, claiming 98 points.
We were again far ahead of the competition in 2020/21, finishing 12 points ahead of Manchester United before another tense battle with Liverpool ended in a second title decided by just one point.
Finally, our 2022/23 season saw us collect 89 points – five more than Arsenal in second.
Total wins
We have won 197 of our 266 Premier League matches since Guardiola’s arrival. That’s a win percentage of 74%, just under three wins in every four games.
It’s an incredible 25 wins more than Liverpool in second place and 51 better than Tottenham Hotspur who are third.
We’re the only side to have more than 100 home victories since Guardiola came to Manchester and we’ve won 17 more away games than anyone else in that time too.
We have suffered only 35 defeats, the joint fewest in the league amongst those who have been in the top tier every season.
Goal difference
City have scored a whopping 659 goals in our 266 matches. That comes out at 2.48 goals per game and an average of 94 goals a campaign.
Our total is 86 more than Liverpool, who have found the net on 573 occasions during the same time frame.
As well as having the most potent attack in the country, our defence has been the best. We have conceded 215 times, 35 fewer than Liverpool who are again our nearest challengers amongst Premier League ever presents for this metric.
That naturally leaves our goal difference streets ahead of our competitors, at the eye-watering total of 444. With only seven sides in positive goal difference in that time, we are 119 better than Liverpool and 294 than Manchester United.
Possession
It’s not news that Pep Guardiola’s sides dominate the ball.
For that reason, it will come as no surprise to anyone who watches the Premier League that City have had the most possession and successful passes in the last seven seasons.
On average, we have the ball for 67% of matches, outshining the rest of the division. That has led to 180,710 passes in 266 matches, an almost unbelievable figure.
When averaged out per game, that equals 679 passes every 90 minutes.
Attacking numbers
We have had 4,638 shots on opposition goal in our 266 matches, with 1698 finding the target. Both of those figures are the leading stats in the league.
Our attacking threat is clearly shown by our 10,165 touches in the opposition box, proving we spend more time than anyone else in the league close to goal.
569 of our 659 goals have come inside the box, with much of Guardiola’s football focused on creating high quality opportunities. The 90 strikes from outside the box is also the best total in the league.
Most appearances
Ederson is our leading appearance maker, having joined the season after Guardiola came to England. He has played in 217 of the 228 Premier League matches since he came to the Etihad.
Kevin De Bruyne is second with 214 while Bernardo Silva is the only other player to have made a double century, featuring exactly 200 times.
Raheem Sterling (194), Ilkay Gundogan (188), Fernandinho and Kyle Walker (both 165) are next.
Most goals
Raheem Sterling is our leading scorer in the Premier League under Pep Guardiola, finding the net 85 times.
Sergio Aguero is second with 52 goals, while Erling Haaland is already seventh on the list after just one season working with Guardiola.
Most assists
Kevin De Bruyne has been far and away the most creative player in the Premier League since arriving at City in 2015.
He became only the fifth player to reach 100 assists during the 2022/23 season and did so in lightning quick time, taking just 237 matches and obliterating Cesc Fabregas’ previous record of 293.
92 of those assists have come under Guardiola, with Sterling our next best goal creator on 40.
Club records under Pep
City’s 2-0 FA Cup win over Everton in March 2021 set a new club record of 17 successive away matches unbeaten.
City’s 3-1 win over Watford in December 2021 set a new club record for top-flight league victories in a calendar year (31).
City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in September was Pep’s 221st as boss – more than any other manager in the Club’s history.
Pep’s personal records whilst at City
Pep Guardiola became the first visiting manager to win his first three Premier League matches at Old Trafford after City beat United 2-0 in April 2019.
Guardiola became the fastest manager in Premier League history to earn 500 points when City drew 1-1 with Southampton in January 2022 (his 213th game.)
He became the fastest manager to 100 home wins in the Premier League when we beat Liverpool in April 2023, taking just 128 matches to hit three figures.
A 3-1 win over Aston Villa in February 2023 was Guardiola‘s 184th in the Premier League, making him the manager with the most wins in his first 250 Premier League games.
Our 4-0 semi-final second leg win over Real Madrid in May 2023 made him the fastest manager to 100 Champions League wins, taking just 160 matches.
English football/Premier League records under Pep
Manchester City have become the fifth different team to win the English top-flight title in three consecutive seasons, after Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United (twice).
Manchester City are the only English top-flight team to score 100 goals at home in a single season in all competitions, doing so twice (2018-19 and 2022-23)
Leroy Sane’s second goal in a 2-0 win over Manchester United in April 2019 was our 157th in all competitions in the 2018/19 season – a new all-time record for a top-flight English club.
City won all nine of our competitive fixtures in January, the most by a team in the top four tiers of English football in a single month since the formation of the Football League in 1888.
City’s 3-1 win away to Everton in February 2021 set a new English of 10 consecutive top-flight league wins at the start of a year.
City’s 2-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach in February 2021 set a new top-flight English record for consecutive away victories (12).
City’s 2-1 win over West Ham in February 2021 was our 20th consecutive win in all competitions – an English top-flight record.
Our win over Newcastle in May 2021 set a new record for the most consecutive away league wins in the history of the top four tiers of English football (12).
City’s 4-0 win over Newcastle in December 2021 was our 34th of that calendar year – a new English football record for the most top-flight wins in a calendar year. It was also our 18th away league win of the year - more than any other top-flight side has managed in the history of English football.
