Manchester City 2017/18

There is no more room for excuses for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager is being paid a fortune by City and has been backed by the full weight of the club’s Qatari owners to create a squad in his own image.

After a first season in English football which ended without any trophies, there simply must be a significant improvement at both a domestic and European level or else his position will be in danger.

Thankfully for Guardiola, he has a truly world class squad at his disposal.

Last season made it obvious to him where improvement was needed and he’s spent so much money on defenders that there’s a joke doing the rounds about Man City having a bigger defence budget than many countries.

They’ve also brought in quality in attacking positions with the acquisition of Bernardo Silva especially exciting.

The main concern for Man City fans is that Guardiola remains wedded to his style of football at the expense of results. The Spaniard was criticised for not understanding what it takes to be the best team in English football.

Guardiola will argue until he’s blue in the face that it’s not the style that needs to change, it’s the ability of his team to accurately carry out his instructions that must improve. There have already been signs that he may get his wish in that regard.

After putting a defeat against Man Utd behind them, City were ruthless in pre-season. They comfortably beat Real Madrid, Tottenham and West Ham and if the take that sort of form into the Premier League, they will be the team that everybody else in the title race has to stop.

Squad List

• Claudio Bravo
• Ederson
• Arijanet Muric
• Kyle Walker
• Danilo
• Vincent Kompany
• Eliaquim Mangala
• Benjamin Mendy
• John Stones
• Jason Denayer
• Nicolas Otamendi
• Ilkay Gungodan
• Kevin De Bruyne
• Leroy Sane
• Bernardo Silva
• David Silva
• Fernandinho
• Alexander Zinchenko
• Yaya Toure
• Brahim Diaz
• Raheem Sterling
• Samir Nasri
• Sergio Aguero
• Wilfried Bony
• Gabriel Jesus

Season Predictions

This is shaping up to be as competitive a Premier League season as we’ve seen for a long time. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that any team will run away with the title like Chelsea did last season.

However, if any team is capable of copying Chelsea, it’s Manchester City.

There will be ups and downs along the way but City have top quality in their ranks, a born winner as their manager and no matter what you think of Guardiola’s style, he’s got players in his squad who already have two Premier League winners medals.

Sergio Aguero is one of those players who has already won the title in England. His quality is such that he would get into every top team in Europe but he was dropped by Guardiola last season in favour of Gabriel Jesus.

The 20-year-old hit the ground running when he joined Man City last season and he is set for a wonderful season in a team that will create ample chances for him.

Best Bets for the Season

Manchester City to win the Premier League at 7/4 with Ladbrokes

Gabriel Jesus to win the Golden Boot at 9/1 with Coral