By Antony Jordan
A poor second half of last season in the Premier League where Manchester City triumphed just seven times in 19 matches in 2016 saw them only secure a Champions League place for this season on goal difference ahead of their local rivals Manchester United. This poor form prompted the Man City owners to replace the manager in charge of the team as Manuel Pellegrini exited The Etihad to be replaced by Pep Guardiola who has claimed league titles in Spain and Germany with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as well as two Champions League titles, but can he guide City to the summit of the EPL this season?
Online sportsbook Bet365.com believe that he can do as they make City the favourites for the title since 2016/17 season and the Bet365.com Premier League Odds for Manchester City are as follows:
Man City to lift the 2016/17 EPL title – 3.50
Manchester City to finish in the top four – 1.20
Sergio Aguero to be the league’s top goalscorer – 4.33
What went wrong for Man City last season? The biggest problem for City in the second half of the season when their campaign to secure a second title in three campaigns was their over reliance on captain Vincent Kompany at the heart of their defence as, when the Belgian was out injured, they conceded far too many goals.
So far new manager Pep Guardiola has not addressed this issue as he has spent £33m on attacking players İlkay Gündoğan and Nolito from Borussia Dortmund and Celta Vigo, but there have been no major defensive signings. With Kompany spending long periods on the sidelines and Joe Hart once again showing that he is capable of making large errors as he conceded two goals from easy saves for England at the European Championships the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss knows he has a big task on his hands.
The current talk circulating is that Guardiola will pounce for one of the brightest upcoming English central defenders in John Stones at Everton and despite the faults that the youngster showed at Goodison Park last season he will be a massive addition and boost alongside Kompany.
As well as this with Sergio Aguero having netted 50 goals over the last two EPL seasons and 67 over the last three coupled with a vast array of attacking talent that includes David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Jesus Navas and Raheem Sterling, City certainly have more than enough in them to score enough goals to claim the title.
They finished with the most amount of goals last season and we see Aguero leading them to the top of the goal scoring charts this season too.
Our best Man City bet from the 2016/17 EPL season is back Sergio Aguero to be the top goalscorer in the league @ 4.33 with Bet365.com.