Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has extended his contract until the summer of 2026. AFP Photo

Paul Kennedy

Am I the only one that hates international breaks? There are too many, right?

Thankfully after another round of meaningless Nations League games, the Premier League is back. Hallelujah and praise the Lord.

The current state of the table is far from what I expected. Liverpool moved five points clear at the top ahead of City, who have been on their worst run of form for what seems like an eternity.

In all competitions, City have lost their last four games. That’s unheard of.

Next up, they face Tottenham Hotspur. A fifth loss in a row will be disastrous, especially if Liverpool can beat Southampton on Sunday.

But let’s face facts here. Anyone who writes off City before we’ve even got to Christmas needs their head examined.

And they’ve been given a massive boost with the news that Pep Guardiola has agreed fresh terms with the club that extends his ­tenure there until summer 2026.

This will act as a huge adrenalin shot for the players, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they swat Spurs aside with ease when they meet at the weekend.

The big test will come the following week, when Pep’s City take on league leaders Liverpool at Anfield.

And while it’s probably the biggest game of the season so far, to call it a title decider is premature to say the least.

There is so much football left to play, with plenty of twists, turns, shocks and surprises guaranteed before the title is decided.

I wouldn’t dismiss Arsenal just yet either. Sure, they are nine points adrift now but so much can change between now and May.

One thing that is clear is that no matter how much a team spends, no matter how big a squad a team has, there are very obvious fragilities in even the best of teams.

City this season haven’t been their best, and that’s clearly because of the loss to injury of their midfielder Rodri, who is probably going to be out for the rest of the season.

Arsenal too have suffered. The absence of Martin Odegaard for two months never went unnoticed.

Liverpool lost goalkeeper Alisson but could count themselves lucky they have such a decent understudy in Caoimhin Kelleher.

Take the likes of Mohammed Salah or Virgil van Dijk out of the Liverpool team for a month or two and see how they fare.

So a warning to Liverpool fans who are getting carried away with their current position. Hold your horses... this is a marathon not a sprint. VNS