It’s probably no big deal, but Manchester City haven’t won in four games.
The 3-3 epic at Celtic was followed by a 2-0 loss at Spurs. Next up was just a point at home to Everton, despite totally dominating, while Barcelona’s 4-0 victory was undoubtedly flattering and predominantly down to a goalkeeping brain fade by Claudio Bravo (oh, how Joe Hart must have laughed!)
Boss Pep Guardiola was seen punching the dugout in frustration at the Nou Camp, illustrating already how the pressure cooker can quickly heat up when managing a top British club.
(Getty Images)
Fortunately their fixture list is softening somewhat (Southampton at home, WBA away and Middlesbrough at the Etihad), presenting an ideal opportunity to re-establish their obvious EPL favouritism.
However, there are obvious defensive issues. Clean sheets are proving hard to come by for the likes of John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and an ageing Aleksandar Kolarov. Bacary Sagna has been injured and who knows if Vincent Kompany will ever get another run of EPL games?
Of course it’s not a crisis… but the media’s pencils are a tad more sharpened. Southampton this weekend is a seriously big game.
While it’s disappointing that Leicester have been totally unable to mount even a reasonable defence of their title, the EPL this year has the potential to be a classic.
Only five points between the top seven is helping to generate huge interest. The British bookmakers are still offering Spurs and Chelsea at around 10/1 to win the league – which appears to be great value. Liverpool are second favourites at around 4/1, with Manchester City still odds on. But the bookies have been wrong before…
In terms of relegation, Middlesbrough are in a state of freefall. They haven’t won in six and look like a side bereft of ideas. Fortunately, Hull are also tumbling after a good start and Sunderland haven’t won a game yet.
Surely Leicester are in a false position, along with West Ham, but with the Premier League riches on offer more glittering than ever, it’s going to be a real scramble as usual.
Remember last season… it was a barren wasteland of television coverage in New Zealand. Our beautiful game disappeared and so, inevitably, did a lot of interest. But talk about a revolution… beIN Sports are delivering an incredibly impressive package. You’ve got shedloads of live games, comprehensive analysis, quirky goal round-ups (What a Hit Son!), fantasy league shows and so much more. If you are addicted, it’s essential viewing. Obviously some of it can be quite drab… I mean Andy Townsend for half an hour is quite punishing. But otherwise, first class.
Newshub.
