It seems improbable that north London denizen TS Eliot was an Arsenal supporter, but his poetry says otherwise. “April is the cruellest month,” begins The Waste Land.

“I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,” laments The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. “This is the way the challenge ends—not with a bang but with a whimper,” was presumably the initial draft of The Hollow Men.

Sunday was a disappointing day, not just for Arsenal and Liverpool fans but also for neutrals who expected to see the three-way title battle continue.

Liverpool’s 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace and Arsenal’s 2-0 setback to Villa leave Manchester City two points clear at the top of the league and, as frontrunners, Pep Guardiola’s team is near infallible. “I have known it all already; I have known it all,” sighs Eliot. But cheer up, Tommy. There is hope yet.

Here are 10 perfectly conceivable reasons why City could still drop points. This is a serious article, so let’s start seriously. Can a team accomplish the triplet twice in a row? With injuries increasing, games tripling, and emotions deepening, can City rouse themselves once more?

There is a reason why a treble—or a double, for that matter—is so rare. Playing in several competitions does have an influence. When the margins are so narrow, fatigue levels, tactical planning, and mental freshness are even more critical.

When cup competitions are straight knockouts, league matches against lower-ranked opponents are naturally the games that can drift out of attention. City hosted Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday, faced Chelsea in the FA Cup three days later, and then flew to Brighton five days later.

Guardiola has already acknowledged City is in “big, big trouble” with exhaustion and injuries. So there are obviously grounds for hope for Liverpool and Arsenal?

Won two, lost five. Has Guardiola ever had a record that bad? Taking on Lionel Messi in the crossbar challenge? Credit card roulette at Manchester’s finest restaurants? Family games of Uno?

City have traditionally struggled at Spurs. Their Premier League record in north London is poorer than any other fixture. Yes, they may have beaten them in the FA Cup this January, but that record does not include their Champions League quarter-final defeat in 2019.

Every manager’s head has a dark room where they store their worst setbacks. Guardiola’s contains a Beavertown brewery and a retractable NFL field.

Tottenham may have been overpowered by Newcastle, but both their games with City this season have been close. They still have the Champions League to chase, and they will not back down.

Is scoring 30 goals in 37 matches truly a bad season? Since when does it make you, as Roy Keane argued, a League Two player? Anyway.

If Haaland fails to score for the rest of the season, perhaps there is talk to be had. For now, City’s rivals merely have to pray the wheels come off.

“I always overthink,” remarked Guardiola in 2022. “I always create new tactics and ideas, and tomorrow you will see a new one. I overthink a lot; that’s why I have extremely good results. I love it.”

“If it works, I am brave; if it doesn’t work, then I’m overthinking,” he added one year later. So go on—be daring.

When you already play four centre-backs, why stop there?

Play a back four of Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, and Josko Gvardiol. John Stones is nearly a center midfielder already. Plonk Kyle Walker (yes, he can count as a centre-back) on the right wing.

The remainder of them? Recall Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Southampton and place him up front in the Andy Carroll role. At 6 feet 5 inches (196cm), Finley Burns must be decent in nets. Luke Mbete can return from Den Bosch and use his left foot from the left wing.

Max Alleyne, aged 18, has been on the bench all season. Fancy joining Stones in the double pivot? There is already discussion about 16-year-old Stephen Mfuni’s technical quality. Stick him in at No. 10. Guardiola believes in total football. They’ll be OK. When you’ve won it all, the only way left to win is to win better.