There is a long way to go. Some may argue that experience and an ‘easier’ run-in favour the reigning champions, but on the other hand City’s squad and home form could swing it in their favour. In my opinion, I believe it is going to be the closest title yet, with Manchester City winning the league on goal difference. And this is how I believe it will happen..

Out of the 10 games remaining for both Manchester Clubs, both have to go to Molineux (where both teams lost last year) and play QPR at home. These teams are both down at the bottom, which aren’t particularly the teams you want to  play at the tail end of the season. However, I believe that both teams will gain 3 points from the QPR game and then both scrape a win at Wolves away.

If you take the remaining fixtures and give the same result to the other Manchester club, then City would win on goal difference (depending on beating United in the derby). This means that United would win their other 3 home games Aston Villa, Fulham and Swansea. In addition, United would go to Wigan and Blackburn, and win both fixtures.

City’s run in contains teams higher up the table, with Arsenal away and Chelsea at home within these. However, if you contrast these 2 games with United’s fixtures, United won both of these.

However, if you take City’s loss at Sunderland and give United 0 points as well at the Stadium of Light, give City just a point at Stoke City and 0 points away at Newcastle, this means that both teams would finish on 91 points if City won in their home fixture against their arch rivals. City currently have 8 better goal difference, which would surely still mean that in 10 games time their goal difference will be superior.

(P.S I don’t believe that City will finish on 91 points, especially with their current poor away form, I was just comparing the 2 sides last 10 games)

Any thoughts / beliefs behind last 10 games?

Chelsea have put a questionable period behind them and seemingly got their season back on track; Andre Villas Boas’ men have beaten Wolves and Newcastle 3-0 in their last two league games, and Valencia by the same margin in Europe. The victory over the Spaniards guaranteed a place in the knockout rounds for the London club, and will have done much to take pressure off an under-fire coach.

Didier Drogba is back in the Chelsea attack at the expense of Fernando Torres, and the Ivory Coast international has led from the front in his side’s revival in form. With Juan Mata and Daniel Sturridge also playing well in a dangerous three-pronged attack, the Stamford Bridge faithful will urge their team to take the game to their big name opponents. Sturridge will be motivated to prove a point against his former employers, and must be marshalled carefully.

Despite a 2-0 victory over a scratch Bayern Munich side in midweek, City crashed out of the Champions League at the expense of Napoli. Europa League football awaits Roberto Mancini’s side, but nothing has changed in the club’s list of priorities; City want to win the Premier League. With the Etihad Stadium team unbeaten domestically and with a five-point buffer at the top of the English top flight, things are looking good for City, but a tricky festive fixture list is sure to test their resolve.

City will be buoyed on by the fact that both Arsenal and Liverpool (twice) have won at Stamford Bridge in recent times, and if the visitors play to their potential there is no reason they won’t leave London with three points. The Citizens have few injury concerns, and their Italian manager has a choice to make 0f who to play in midfield, with Nigel De Jong, James Milner and Gareth Barry all in contention to slot in beside Yaya Toure and David Silva.

This is an important game for City also, as a win could effectively make it a two-horse race, leaving Chelsea 13 points off the pace. United will be smarting after their Champions League exit in midweek, and Sir Alex Ferguson will have his side’s thoughts focussed on cutting the deficit in the race for domestic honours. A win for City would be a real confidence booster going into the New Year, and has the ability to deliver doubts into United minds, as the blue side of Manchester’s ruthless streak would continue.

Which is why Wednesday night’s elimination from Europe’s premier competition comes as an even greater shock to the system of Blues’ fans but the hotels in Manchester will hardly be complaining since the Europa League will only confirm extra games for the Citizens to play. But Group A is in the past now and the Italian tactician must ensure his squad brimming full of superstars are focused on their domestic matters at hand as well as making sure his team do well in the Europa League.

Indeed it is fair to say that City never really transferred their stunning domestic form onto the continental stage. However their failure cannot be put down to ”inexperience” as some pundits seen very keen on. Napoli are hardly a regular team for the contention of this trophy. Whatever went wrong from the Blues, they could never properly correct it. A 1-1 draw at home to the aforementioned Italian club suggested they were finding it difficult to adapt to life playing against the top of what Europe had to offer.

The comprehensive 2-0 defeat suffered away to Bayern Munich was overshadowed by the infamous Carlos Tevez incident but the one certainty that can be gathered from that night was how much Ribery and co. stood head and shoulders over the competition debutantes. 2-1 and 3-0 wins against Villarreal offered the Etihad Stadium outfit hope heading into their penultimate group game against Napoli. However the Serie A club won 2-1 in a decisive game which in hindsight, truly ended City’s campaign.

Their destiny was out of their hands, regardless of how the Citizens fared against Munich in their final group game as a win for Napoli against Villarreal would ensure the Blues would have to be content with the Europa League>. The table-toppers comfortably saw off a weakened Munich side 2-0 in Manchester but a similar result in favour of Napoli in Spain confirmed their progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Sheikh Mansour will definitely be hugely disappointed by the underwhelming displays of his club in this season’s Champions League group stage as his several hundred million outlay hasn’t transformed them into a European force yet. Participating in Europe’ second tier competition will be a slight humiliation for the star-studded collection of players at Eastlands but they should have little to no problems negotiating a path to the Europa League final which is to be staged in Bucharest, Romania on 9th May 2012.

Mancini’s charges will be favourites to lift the trophy on that date as they look to juggle and win four competitions come the end of the season. Their surprisingly early Champions League elimination should have pose no adverse effects to City’s march to their first ever Premier League trophy and only some rotten luck in the cup competitions will see them fail to pick up silverware there as the Sheikh’s plans look to finally bear fruition, albeit late in terms of continental progression.

Liverpool v Man City

Mancini will urge his troops not to dwell on their Champions League defeat to his countrymen, and City must regroup ahead of what will be a tricky trip to Anfield. Liverpool will be full of confidence after their 2-1 win over Chelsea last weekend, and will look to take the game to the visitors.

Citizens have been ruthless this season domestically, and the travelling fans will hope to see a similar performance to the one that saw them annihilate rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford. Mario Balotelli has recovered from illness and he is to be considered for a continuation of his place in the starting line-up; the Italy international has scored nine goals in his last ten games.

The visitors can expect a fiery atmosphere and a passionate performance from the Merseysiders, however if City can weather an early storm, they have every chance of getting three points; those interested in Premiership betting should know that Betfair give them odds of 2.64 to record a victory.

Arsenal v Man City

The Carling Cup will probably be an afterthought for City fans with important games in the Champions League and Premier League upcoming, but another cup success is only three victories away. City travel to the Emirates to take on a resurgent Arsenal on Tuesday night, less than 72 hours after facing Liverpool.

Both sides are likely to field weakened teams in this one, but a victory would be sure to keep the ball rolling, and keep the Manchester club in all competitions. The Gunners are in good form, but expect Arsene Wenger not to risk main man Robin van Persie in the cup tie.

Man City v Bayern Munich

Hurting after his side’s defeat in midweek, Roberto Mancini downplayed City’s chances of winning the Champions League after the defeat in San Paolo.

“We should be realistic. I do not think we have a team to win the Champions League this season.”

Mancini is quoted as saying in BBC Sport.

The Premier League team face an uphill battle to even get out of Group A, as a win against Bayern Munich is now a must, but may not even be enough to see the side reach the knockout rounds. Villarreal must overcome Napoli at El Madrigal for City to stand a chance, but Mancini will urge his side to focus on the Bundesliga giants rather than watch what is happening in Spain.

Jupp Heynckes’ side comprehensively beat City at the Allianz Arena back in September, and revenge will look to be exacted on Wednesday 7th December. If Mancini’s men can starve the likes of Mario Gomez and Franck Ribery possession there is no reason why the home side cannot win, but a better performance than that shown in Germany is needed.

Manchester City will travel to Spain to take on Villarreal at El Madrigal in the form of their life as they seek to secure Champions League knock-out action. The Group A moment of truth will kick-off at 7:45 p.m. on 2nd November and an explosive match it to be expected as both sides pass the halfway mark of the group stage.

Mario Balotelli - Love him or hate him, nobody can slate his talent!

Averaging fives goals per game in their last three games, including hitting Manchester United for six at Old Trafford, Manchester City are many people’s  favourites to emerge victorious from the tie. Despite their lethal finishing up front and their miserly defence at the back, this game will provide a huge test of their character as this ground has proved frustrating for many English teams in the past, particularly Manchester United and Arsenal.

The dramatic home fixture, where Sergio Aguero scored a winner at the death, suggests although their domestic form is irrepressible, their continental form could be better. It seems the Yellow Submarine, despite being nowhere near the Citizens in terms of having a magnificent squad will plenty of strength in depth, they are more than a match for Roberto Mancini’s men as they almost snuck a draw from the Etihad stadium. However this could be where they announce themselves to the rest of Europe after some indifferent displays so far against Napoli and Bayern Munich.

So as Roberto Mancini brings his starlets to the Iberian nation, expect a thrilling encounter and with the momentum firmly on the Blues side, a comfortable win for the away side is in order.

Wolves are all that stand between Manchester City and their visit to Spain for some Champions League action, watch Clarence Seedorf, Gianluigi Buffon, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Patrick Viera recreate some of the historic moments of the competition:

This message was brought to you by Heineken, sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, but it contains our writer’s opinion.

Star of the show: David Silva

The hosts kicked-off in a much brighter fashion to their big-spending rivals as they dominated possession early on. Ashley Young in particular was proving to be a thorn in Manchester City’s defence but the home side couldn’t unlock their rearguard as Wayne Rooney and Anderson were restricted to long-range efforts.

However in the 22^nd minute against the run of play, the visitors grabbed the lead. James Milner collected Sergio Aguero’s incisive pass and the Englishman pulled it back for Balotelli, who passed it precisely into David de Gea’s bottom left corner. Ferguson’s men were jolted by conceding as Roberto Mancini’s men finally got a foothold on proceedings and began to enjoy long spells of possession themselves but there were no significant chances before the end of the first half.

Within a minute of the restart, Manchester United’s day got worse as Jonny Evans hauled Balotelli down on the edge of the box. The Northern Irish defender received a red card since he was last man back and their defence never got to grips with their cross-city rivals since then.

Mario Balotelli after netting the opener

Balotelli doubled City’s lead on the hour mark when he converted Milner’s cross as Patrice Evra’s indiscipline was exposed at the back. Micah Richards and Sergio Aguero combined to complete the same feat down the right flank as the right-back’s back post cross was converted by the Argentine attacker to make it 3-0 to City.

However with nine minutes left, Darren Fletcher produced a stunning 25-yard curling effort that found Joe Hart’s top left corner as hopes of a United comeback materialised.  But nothing was going to take this day away from the FA Cup holders as Edin Dzeko kneed in Joleon Lescott’s cross in the 90^th minute to make the scoreline 4-1.

The Premier League champions defence disintegrated further in injury time when David Silva was allowed to ghost though their sieve-like defence and slot the ball under the helpless de Gea. There was still time for Dzeko to snatch a sixth as he latched onto Silva’s sublime pass and calmly slotted past the young Spanish ‘keeper once again.

Alex Ferguson was bamboozled

The crushing defeat of Manchester United puts a chasm between the two sides as Man City are now five points clear of them in the race for the Premier League title with a vastly superior goal difference of +26, 12 more than their championship rivals. The size of the win will have a long-term positive psychological effect on Macini’s squad as a powershift looks on the cards in the city of Manchester.

Visit WhoScored.com for more detail match reports and football statistics.

And yet there’s a heavy expectation from City these days -every performance scrutinised, every goal weighed, every mistake magnified. And with City now expected to compete on all four fronts, we will find out this season if the squad can live up to the stress or, like Arsenal, break down.

The manager’s words – that we lack central midfielders – are both well-calculated and accurate. Mancini didn’t get the central midfielder he was looking for during the summer transfer window, but talking about a lack of squad depth also takes some of the pressure of the players themselves, who have only themselves to blame for dropping 3 points away to Fulham. In fairness, that’s the sort of game City would have expected to lose / drop points in seasons gone by, so to view a draw as a failure (after dominating the game) is great progress in itself.

Today City play Birmingham – the relegated Carling Cup champions. Their reward? Losing players, playing in the Europa League and coming up against us in the Carling Cup – at least they can have one less competition to worry about after today.

But going back to squad depth – it’s worth asking why Mancini cannot – or will not – change tactics and formations to lift the burden off central midfield. He can easily switch to a standard 4-4-1-1 with Aguero / Dzeko / Tevez / Silva taking the front two spots, Nasri accompanying Barry / Yaya in the center and Silva / one or more of the fullbacks taking up the wider midfield positions. It’s not ideal, but it’s a better answer than playing unfit / tiring players or losing games because you don’t have experienced bodies on the pitch.

Considering the side (and their relative positions on the pitch) that United put out last night, it’s something worth thinking about. Of course, that’s easier done when you have players playing together for a long, long time, which is why the Etihad Campus, when it bears fruit, will be so important to the club.

You can expect Mancini to ring the changes and give his younger / reserve players a run in the Carling Cup – with Hargreaves expected to play a few minutes. Given his history though, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was withdrawn before the game. Hopefully he doesn’t go and get himself injured.

Manchester City Tickets

City’s next Premier League game is at home on Saturday against Everton. You can buy tickets for the game through TicketBis by going to the Manchester City v Everton tickets page.

Want to watch Man City’s Premier League and Champions League games live? Sign up for Sky Sports HD (under £40 per month) now!

The winning of last season’s FA Cup, eliminating Manchester United en route to the final, has laid the foundations for this season and ended 34 years of hurt in the process. Now Roberto Mancini and his squad of mega-money signings are primed for the new season in which they are ready to wrestle the status of best team in Manchester (and England) from their rivals through claiming silverware.

Man City begin their Premier League campaign at home to Swansea on August 15^th before away trips to Bolton and Tottenham Hotspur. September holds home games against Wigan and Everton which bookend an away fixture against Fulham. October contains home games against Aston Villa and Wolverhampton with an away trip to Blackburn and finally a massive away game to Old Trafford where they take on Manchester United in the first derby of the season on the 23^rd.

November starts off by travelling to QPR, welcoming Newcastle United to Eastlands and finally playing Liverpool on Merseyside on the 27^th.  A congested December begins with a home fixture against Norwich before journeying to Chelsea on the 10^th and then welcoming Arsenal to the City of Manchester Stadium on the 17^th during a critical stage of the season. A home game against Stoke City followed by two away matches to West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland respectively complete their business for 2011.

The New Year begins with a stern home test against Liverpool on the 2^nd with a short trip to Wigan next and finally Tottenham come to Eastlands to complete January’s activities. February has tough away games to Everton and Aston Villa as Fulham and Blackburn come to Manchester during the first season of spring.

Away games to Swansea and Stoke are contained in March’s fixtures as the title hopefuls and challengers are separated as the race for the Premier League crown enters its final phase. Bolton visit Eastlands firstly in the month before a colossal game against Chelsea on the 17^th which may end up ending one side’s title chances. Sunderland at home are the final test for Roberto Mancini’s side as April begins with yet another big game against Arsenal on the 7^th at the Emirates. West Brom at home and away fixtures to Norwich and Wolverhampton prepare Man City for a potential title deciding clash against Manchester United on the 28^th with home advantage to the Blues.

May only has two games left in their league campaign as a trip to Newcastle precedes a home encounter with QPR on the 13^th to finalise their domestic duties for another season.

There may be reservations as to how this new look Manchester City side can gel ahead of the new league campaign. With Gael Clichy and Stefan Savic adding more steel to their defence, Roberto Mancini is building a solid squad to fight for four trophies this season. With promising young England internationals like Joe Hart, Micah Richards and Adam Johnson polishing off a luxurious squad brimming with some top talent from abroad such as Yaya Toure, Edin Dzeko and Nigel de Jong, it will still be a positive season should they miss out on the Premier League title and build on last season’s 3^rd place finish.

The unfortunate last-gasp loss to Manchester United in the Community Shield portrays Manchester City as almost there in terms of competing with their cross-city rivals and their positive pre-season form in the Dublin Super Cup, where they won the competition despite coming up against other top European opposition in the form of Inter Milan, show that the Citizens are ready to play against the cream of the crop from the continent.

However it is still uncertain as to how far this side can go this season but one thing that is sure is Roberto Mancini is building a squad capable of challenging for trophies for many more years yet.

Sign up for Sky Sports HD (under £40 / month) and watch City play in the Champions League and the Premier League all season long.

Patrick Devaney writes for Soccerlens.com.

Mr Kieron Grant of the Dublin O.S.C. Left a comment on a previous post so I will post it here for him.

“The next meeting is on Tuesday the 2nd of August”.

Thanks Kieron I hope after the weekend more fellow City supporters will find their way along to the meeting which are a great way to meet like minded supporters and talk about all things City.

Although Sheik Mansour and the owners of the football club are not overly concerned with the amount of money spent given the multi-millions at their disposal, Fifa’s new financial fair play ruling could have a real impact on the leading clubs over the next couple of seasons. With a deal to sell the naming rights of the stadium in place to help to try and balance the profit and loss account, the next sensible move is to ditch a number of top earning players that do not warrant large salaries.

Emmanuel Adebayor should be the first man on the list. The Togolese striker has refused to turn up for pre-season training, so straight away should not be paid further. The ex-Arsenal man has made it painstakingly clear in the media that he will not don the blue of the Manchester City jersey ever again, and although the club are holding out for half of the £25 million paid for the attacker in July 2009, the club should cut their losses and get rid of a player who threatens to upset the apple cart and eat into the outfit’s finances.

Craig Bellamy is another who is surplus to requirements, and although he had a promising start to his time in Manchester is unlikely to feature for the club again any time soon. Again a loss on the transfer fee (£14 million) paid will have to be suffered, but the player’s high wages are cutting into the side’s budget. At 32-years-old City cannot expect to recuperate too much for the Welsh forward, but a sale for a couple of million and another high earner off the payroll is a smart move.

Wayne Bridge is an unnecessary luxury, as the England international will be behind Alexander Kolarov and Gael Clichy at left back, and instead of loaning him out, which does not have much benefit for the club, he should be sold. Shaun Wight Phillips and Roque Santa Cruz’s roles at the club must also be assessed, as the pair pulled on their soccer shoes on fleeting occasions in 2010-11, and would not be missed if they did depart.

Fifa’s financial ruling will shackle some of the wealthiest sides in Europe, and go some way to bringing the game back to a level playing field. Therefore, despite money not being an object to the owners, the club must be run more like a business to ensure compliance with the new legislature.

Gareth McKnight writes for Soccerlens.com.