Premier League Preview 2019-20: Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club
Credit: Manchester City FC
2018-19 Premier League Finish: 1st Place
2019-20 Premier League Prediction: 2nd Place
Transfers In:
Rodri MF - Atletico Madrid £63,000,000
Zack Steffan GK - Columbus Crew £7,000,000
Angelino DF - PSV Eindhoven £5,350,000
Morgan Rogers FW - West Bromwich Albion £4,000,000
Transfers Out:
Vincent Kompany DF - Anderlecht, Free Agent
Douglas Luiz MF - Aston Villa £15,000,000
Fabian Delph MF - Everton £10,000,000
Manchester City are coming off back to back Premier League titles. In what was the first time that a team had won back to back titles since their cross town rival, Manchester United, had won in 2008 and 2009. But that 2009 title wasn’t just back to back for United, it was actually their third title in a row, back in the days of Cristiano Ronaldo. So will Manchester City follow suit and achieve the 3-peat or will they be stopped short? As you can tell, I have City finishing just outside first place this season. Now that’s mostly due to the fact of how hard a 3-peat is to pull off. Back to back in hard enough in the Premier League, so I’m just going in favor of the odds on this one. In my opinion and in reality, Manchester City only have to worry about 1 other team in the title race, and that of course is the same team they battled to the last day last year. I’d say there is an 85% chance that the title lands between one of those two teams. Then give Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all dark horse chances at giving it a run. Worst case for Manchester City, I just can’t see them finishing outside the top 3, nonetheless outside of a Champions League spot. Best case for City is obviously winning the title, which they probably have a 50/50 shot at.
Strength:
Pep Guardiola
Credit: Daily Star
Manchester City’s line-up is loaded from top to bottom but it doesn’t matter how loaded your line-up is, winning back to back Premier League titles starts with the coach. There is a reason the last time it had been done it was by a Sir Alex Ferguson team. I was skeptical of Pep Guardiola when he was coming to Manchester City. He had major success at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich but those teams are in leagues that are very much different than the Premier League. At Barcelona, not only did he have a loaded squad, but he had none other than Lionel Messi in that squad. At Munich, same thing with the loaded squad and their was even less parity in the Bundesliga 5 years ago compared to now. I wasn’t saying that Pep was a bad coach, I just didn’t know truly how good he was and how he would measure up in the best league in the world. In his first 3 seasons, Pep has finished 3rd, 1st and 1st. All the while managing a squad of 20+ players that are all vying for a starting spot. Guardiola has been incredible in how he’s rotated and balanced this squad. To keep that many players happy and to have nearly every line-up you trot out, perform great, that’s damn impressive. Only thing that I would be scared of is the recent track history of Man City managers after their 3rd season, it’s pretty much non-existent.
Weakness:
Sergio Aguero
Credit: Daily Express
Much like Liverpool, there is no weakness in this squad. But that’s what you should expect when you have 10 players that cost more than £40,000,000. Again, being nitpicky, but I’m going to go with how much longer can they rely on Sergio Aguero as their weakness. Aguero is really the only true striker that City have in their squad, not like it matters too much as their wingers and attacking midfielders are all world class. But Aguero is now 31 years old and at some point will no longer be the same Aguero, right? Well he’s scored 20+ goals in each of the last 5 seasons and he’s not looking like he is slowing down anytime soon. I still think Manchester City are good with Aguero for the next few seasons but they do need to start looking for the next guy that is going to step in that role when the day comes. Who knows, it could be sooner rather than later.
Top Goalscorer Predictions:
Sergio Aguero: 20 goals
Raheem Sterling: 15 goals
Riyad Mahrez: 14 goals (I think Sane could be on his way out, opening the door for even more playing time for Mahrez)
Home Kit: Not really a fan. To start I don’t really care for the navy blue stripes on the shoulders. Then you add purple lettering and this kit is just all over the place. Light blue, navy blue and purple. Who thought that was a good idea? But then again what do you expect when you switch from Nike to Puma. Also that’s another reason I’m adding to the list of why City won’t win the title this season. Champs don’t wear Puma.
Credit: FootyHeadlines
Away Kit: Trash. Just as bad as the home, if not worse. The alternating colors of yellow, pink and light blue on a black kit is something I’ve never seen before. But that doesn’t make it good. City had really good kits last year, and now you wonder why I’m choosing Liverpool to take the title instead.
Credit: FootyHeadlines