Man City Specials: Treble Odds, to Win the League & More

Following some seriously impressive displays in recent weeks, Manchester City look like they could be the team to beat in England this season, having comfortably beaten Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League to keep them close to the top of the table, as well as defeating city rivals Manchester Utd 2-0 in the League Cup semi-finals, which means that Pep Guardiola’s side are in the running to compete on every front.

We take a look at the City specials and see where the club can pick up silverware in the midst of this spectacular form.

Guardiola has won the Premier League title twice since taking over from Manuel Pellegrini as City manager back at the start of the 2016/17 season, doing so in 2017/18 with a record-breaking 100 points, and again the following season with 98. The last time they won both the league title and the FA Cup was back in 2019 when they managed to complete a domestic treble.

At present City are currently just four points behind Liverpool with two games in hand, with only bitter rivals Manchester United uncatchable prior to the Red Devils trip to Anfield on Sunday. City’s chances of winning the FA Cup for the third time since the Abu Dhabi royal family bought the club in 2008 were significantly increased by Monday’s draw, as they were drawn against Cheltenham Town, whilst both United and Liverpool will face off at Old Trafford in the fourth round.

City to do the double by winning both the Premier League and FA Cup is priced at 4/1.

Winning the Premier League and League Cup in the same season is a familiar combination for City fans, having done so on three different occasions. Firstly in 2013/14 when they beat Liverpool to the league title, as well as winning the League Cup final against Sunderland 3-1 at Wembley where second-half goals by Yaya Toure, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas overcame the Wearside club’s resistance after Fabio Borini’s shock opener in the first half.

City also achieved this feat in 2017/18 where they beat Arsenal 3-0 in the final, having won the league on 100 points, 19 clear of Manchester United in second, as well as in 2018/19 when they became the first team in English football to win all four domestic trophies including the Community Shield.

City are already in the final of the League Cup as stated above, having beaten rivals United 2-0 in the semi-finals at Old Trafford thanks to goals from John Stones and Fernandinho. This win means that the Citizens will face Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the final in late April, with Spurs aiming to win their first trophy since 2008, whilst City are looking to win their sixth league cup in the last eight seasons.

With City in a good position in the league title race, as well as already being in the final of a competition that they have an impressive record in, they are priced at 11/10 to complete this feat for a fourth time in eight seasons.

City are in good stead to challenge to win the Premier League title for the fifth time in their history. Meanwhile, the Champions League has been somewhat of a tough nut for them to crack, having gone out at the quarter-finals stage under Guardiola four years running at the hands of AS Monaco, Liverpool, Tottenham and Olympique Lyon. The furthest City have ever gone in the Champions League was under Manuel Pellegrini where the Sky Blues lost 1-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid via a deflected Gareth Bale effort in the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, following a goalless draw at the Etihad in 2016, as Real went on to win the tournament for the 11th time. The pre-season favourites to win the Champions League were Liverpool, but, due to the endless list of injuries they have suffered in defence, this may be one of City’s best chances yet to win the competition for the first time in their history.

Guardiola’s side are priced at 11/2 to win both the Premier League and the Champions League this season.

As mentioned above, City are the only team in English football history to have won all three domestic cups in the same season, having done so in 2018/19. With being in a good position near the top of the table at present, as well as the fact that they are in the League Cup final and have had favourable draws go their way in the FA Cup this campaign, as stated above, as Manchester United face Liverpool in the fourth round, as well as the likes of Tottenham most likely facing Everton in the fifth-round if results go as expected.

City are yet to have any form of dominance in the FA Cup under Guardiola, having won it once in the Spaniards first four seasons at the club, having been beaten at the semi-finals stage twice by Arsenal, as well as suffering a shock 1-0 defeat away at Wigan Athletic in the fifth round in 2018, as a late Will Grigg goal put the League One side through in what is regarded as one of the biggest FA Cup upsets of all time.

The Citizens are priced at 5/1 to complete a clean sweep of the domestic trophies for the second time in both theirs and English football’s history.

Since arriving at the Etihad Stadium in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has only had one trophyless season at the club, which came in 2016/17, having finished third in the Premier League on 78 points from 38 matches. That season City were knocked out in the League Cup by Manchester United in the fourth round via a Juan Mata strike, which remains as the last time City were beaten in that competition, meanwhile, they were beaten in the semi-finals of the FA Cup later on that campaign by Arsenal in the semi-finals as mentioned above.

City have won eight pieces of silverware since the end of 2016/17 if you include the Community Shield and have always tended to progress deep into each domestic competition that they have entered. As stated above they have a particularly good chance of winning one of the English trophies and are priced at 3/1 to not win a trophy at the end of the season.