Man City Premier League Odds: Could be that Pep’s got it sussed again

Of the last 13 Premier League campaigns in England, Manchester City have won the big one on eight occasions. That includes the last four, a feat never before achieved. They have a generational manager in Pep Guardiola, a seemingly insatiable desire for more silverware, and an enviable, burgeoning infrastructure that's taken root in East Manchester.

The conversation concerning '24/25 starts then on Ashton New Road, in M11. Can they make it five on the spin? How are the Manchester City betting odds shaping up? All will be revealed ...

Last season: 1st

Top scorer: Erling Haaland (27)

Transfers in: Savinho (Troyes, circa £30m).

Transfers out: Liam Delap (Ipswich, £20m), Sergio Gomez (Real Sociedad, £8.4m), Tommy Doyle (Wolves, £4.3m), Yan Couto (Borussia Dortmund, loan), Micah Hamilton (Middlesbrough, £2m, with various options), Mahamadou Susoho (Peterborough, loan), Finlay Burns (Hull City, loan).

Julián Álvarez is thought likely to move shortly, potentially to Atletico Madrid.

First game: Chelsea (A)

Prediction: 1st

Premier League Odds

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Massive understatement alert - there's plenty going on in and around Manchester City. Things move swiftly in football, but as I take a pause and a snapshot at time of writing, a matter of days before the new season begins in earnest, there's a great deal to process and consider.

Saturday's Community Shield win against their neighbours was a welcome start, as City look to add another PL title to their impressive CV. It looks likely, as alluded to above, that they'll be trying to do so without one of football's most decorated players in Julian Alvarez. IF it comes to pass, he MIGHT be replaced - or at least another element could be added to the roster - relief for Rodri, possibly.

Playing second striker to Erling Haaland isn't the easiest gig in town whether you're on the field or not, and as a rule the calibre of player occupying that position doesn't take kindly to being less than the man. With Haaland in situ, that's an annual issue. Alvarez evidently has begun to feel it keenly.

Dynamic false nines and predatory midfielders are City's bread and butter, with Bernardo's emphatic headed equaliser at weekend another great example of hitting the box at exactly the right time. There could yet be activity then, and with both Kalvin Phillips and Joao Cancelo back from loan spells that's yet more intrigue for the gossip columns as well as the back pages.

What I feel is slightly different this time around is that City have had 12 months to get over the loss of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan - for me it was evident during periods last term that they were sorely missed. Add to that the likes of Jeremy Doku, Mateo Kovacic, Josko Gvardiol and Matheus Nunes will now have had a full season under Guardiola, and the picture looks a whole lot more settled.

Gvardiol and Kovacic already look like they've been in sky blue all their careers. Doku is coming along nicely, while the jury is arguably still deliberating regarding Nunes. He may yet step up. We must also add to the positive mix the growing stature of recent and incredibly-recent academy graduates like Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb, James McAtee and Nico O'Reilly.

Bobb announced himself at Newcastle last-term with a priceless, twinkle-toed winner, and Lewis has enjoyed England recognition. The other two are very much at base camp beginning their climb but the portents are good, and in McAtee's case he's already battle-hardened after stacks of game time in the trenches in South Yorkshire.

Norway's little nugget Bobb has hinted in pre-season, and at Wembley on Saturday, that he's about to explode. Interesting news then for Jack Grealish, surprisingly left out of England's Euro squad in the summer and with several challengers for a spot out wide. I see him coming back hungry and strong - which will only help cope with the Club's enormous potential fixture list given the likely assaults on so many fronts.

Looks like Ederson is staying, more terrific news, and with John Stones playing through the summer's huge competition seemingly without incident Guardiola's going to have outstanding options all over the field.

KDB looked at his very best in a losing Belgian cause in Germany, and if Philip Walter Foden is something of an England enigma for whatever reason, the current Footballer of the Year is very much at home en Angleterre.

Now to the potential hiccups. You'll have noticed that City are 16/1 to be relegated. At first glance that looks the worst value imaginable, but there's the small matter of a simmering difference of opinion with the Premier League. 115 differences of opinion, apparently.

Alleged financial irregularities stretching back many years, that City strenuously deny. It could be that a hearing will take place this autumn, and a verdict will be reached in the summer. That relegation quote factors in the prospect of things going extremely badly, and the punishment being draconian.

There's no way of knowing how it's all going to play out. It's an unseemly blight upon our game - a sport that in all candour over the last 20 years or so hasn't always stood up to the greatest fiscal scrutiny on the world stage, never mind any domestic ramifications. We can really say no more on the matter at this point.

And then there's the biggest imponderable of them all - when will the man from Santpedor, Catalonia, finally say adiós to the Etihad? Guardiola arrived in the summer of 2016 having signed a three-year contract in the February of that year, leaving Manuel Pellegrini with a slightly awkward few months that he navigated with style and grace.

That he's happily still in Manchester is incredible, really, and he's going to decide apparently during this campaign quite how the next year or two will map out.

When Sir Alex left Manchester United I doubt many would have imagined they'd still be looking for another PL crown over a decade later. Time will tell whether Guardiola's legacy and the club's succession planning will ensure that's not the case for City, but he's sure to be acutely missed, when the day does arrive, exceptionally keenly.

He's a revolutionary for me. One of the most important figures in the history of football world-wide.

Big threats abound for '24/25 - a wounded Arsenal, potentially resurgent Liverpool, Ratcliffe's new vision of United, Chelsea's big-spenders, Tottenham, Villa, Newcastle; and all the rest who can on their day unseat anyone. And do, rather frequently.

It's all in City's hands - and if you fancied them last term, they've got a marginally better chance in my humble opinion this time around. We've not really emphasised enough the Leeds-born fella who's scored 63 league goals in his only two seasons in English football so far, either.

The Striking Viking is likely to add considerably to that tally in the coming months, and for me Manchester City have a compelling case indeed in search of that absolutely potty five-timer.

Football Odds

Only one thing to do then - they might start modestly given the players yet to return to full-on combat, but they habitually finish like trains.

Football Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.