Following their 6-1 mauling of rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford last week that leaves Manchester City 5 points clear atop of the Premier League after 9 games, Roberto Mancini’s side are 40/1 to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Carling Cup this season with Betfred.
Manchester City’s squad is frightening when going forward. Mancini has a choice of Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko to pick from up front. The aforementioned Argentine has made a startling start to the season, scoring 9 goals from 12 shots on target so far. The young Italian, whom I have been critical of in the past has come good at the start of this season; scoring in each of his last 4 Premier League games. Dzeko has not been consistent in both starting and scoring for City, but his 4 goals at Tottenham stand out and he creates a number of opportunities for his teammates.
Behind them, both David Silva and Samir Nasri lead the league in number of assists, whilst James Milner is a consistent player, protected in the centre by both Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure.
Defensively, there are still question marks over Manchester City. Is Joleon Lescott good enough to win the Premier League? Do they have a good left back? Well this team kept the most clean sheets in the league last season. In comparison, Chelsea have not kept a clean sheet in their last 8, whilst Manchester United have defensive issues of their own.
Whilst they’re winning, there appears to be harmony in the dressing room. Roberto Mancini should take credit and compliments for this, given all the stick he received last season with training ground bust ups and such. The Carlos Tevez affair was another negative for both the manager and the club, but it appears not to have affected the first team so far.
Domestically, Manchester City are on top of things. They are 5 points ahead at the top of the league, they are through to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup, and they are the reigning FA Cup holders. Whether they make the latter stages of the Champions League remains to be seen. That could have an impact on domestic competition, but the strength in depth available to Mancini is far superior to any other manager in the league, and world football. But who can turn down odds of 40/1 for the Citizens to lift all 3?
