Man City were one of 4 teams competing in a tight title race without De Bruyne

It's done. The title race is run. Manchester City will be champions with their annual winning streak an inevitability - or so it seems with the return of Kevin De Bruyne.

The first half of the season brought some challenges for Pep Guardiola with shock results and injuries to key players but they have still been able to stay in touch with the leading pack. They sit in second place, five points behind Liverpool with a game in hand.

City have shown in previous years how they can put together a flawless run capable of catapulting past their rivals from a seemingly insurmountable position. Take the successful chase with Arsenal last season as a prime example.

Over the past six seasons, no other Premier League side has collected more than City's 145 points from the final 10 fixtures.

And more often than not, the driving force for this domination comes from the brilliance of De Bruyne, who made a devastating impact in a 21-minute cameo against Newcastle earlier this month after four months on the sidelines.

For the Belgium midfielder, it was business as usual; a goal and an assist as the visitors recovered from a goal deficit deep into the second half at St James' Park.

Even without their star man, City's unparalleled form in the run-in induces fear in the their challengers. With him, they're almost impossible to go up against.

As Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp joked following his team's 4-2 victory over the Magpies at the start of the month: 'Kevin De Bruyne is warming up. The whole country is starting to shake.'

The numbers for Guardiola's side post Christmas in recent seasons have been staggering. With the exception of his maiden campaign, when his team struggled to adapt to his methods and finished fourth, City had enjoyed a win