English Premier League is already underway and everyone is wondering if this will be yet another Manchester City year or will Liverpool be able to beat them to the title this time around!
If we go by the soccer predictions, Manchester City has everything going for them to make it third title in a row. This possibility is also very well backed in the betting markets where Manchester City are going at odds of 2/5 to win the championship. The Liverpool are a close second at odds of 3/1. Let’s take a good look at both these top two teams as they go about their business in the ongoing EPL season.
Manchester City
Managed by Pep Guardiola, Manchester City were the EPL champions last season and have brought in players like Rodri and Joao Cancelo to further strengthen their hold on the league.
How are they looking?
Manchester City were almost perfect last season and they look equally good this time. Guardiola has been doing everything within his means to further improve the squad. Rodri’s arrival from Atletico de Madrid bolsters their midfield even further and Juventus’ Joao Cancelo is believed to be much better than Danilo. On the other hand, Kevin de Bruyne is back to full fitness and looked pretty good in the preseason games. The way they beat West Ham in their opening game clearly shows that they have hit the ground running this time too!
Potential improvement areas
When a football team scores 95 goals in a season and concedes only 23, there is not much you can point out when it comes to the improvement areas. However, it cannot be denied that Manchester City lost 3 more matches compared to Liverpool last season, making them fight for the title till the last game. Considering that 3 of those losses were against teams like Newcastle, Leicester and Palace, Guardiola would be looking to not let that happen again.
Key player
Manchester City have always relied on Sergio Aguero to be their go to man. However, with Raheem Sterling looking in excellent form and Gabriel Jesus also pitching in, that might change in the near future.
Liverpool
Liverpool have really excelled under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp. Many feel that they were plain unlucky to finish second last season.
How are they looking?
The way they trounced Norwich City in the season’s opening game, scoring a 4-1 victory with each one of those goals coming from different players speaks a lot about the form that they are in. They haven’t had any big name transfers coming into the side and Jurgen Klopp is justified to not tinker with the side that emerged European champions not too long ago.
Potential improvement areas
Despite playing a flawless season last time around, they will still need to up their game a notch higher and try to squeeze out at least a couple more points this time. Klopp would have already worked for strategy against the big guns they lost to last time and would be hoping for the team to perform much better against them this season.
Key Player
Although Mohamed Salah wasn’t their most effective player last season, with the likes of Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk having more impact than the Egyptian, everyone knows that he’s unstoppable on his day. And Liverpool would be hoping there are more of those days this time around.
