To have a game in hand

I have come across the expression game in hand in an article on England Premier League, as follows:

Third-place City has a game in hand but the surprise result against Sunderland, coupled with Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Liverpool, may be a setback too far in its bid for a second championship in three seasons.

I do not quite understand what game in hand means in this context. What would be the correct meaning?

Solution 1:

The term game in hand is used in sport to indicate when a team has played fewer matches than other teams around them. This term is used to indicate that, whilst a team is in a particular position in a league, because they have played fewer matches than other teams around them they could potentially improve their position depending on the results in the differing games. hence, Manchester city have one extra game to play than the others, like Liverpool or Chelsea. here is a link:

“Game in hand” on Wikipedia