Content Editor at Free Super Tips, Alex was born in the shadow of Old Trafford and is an avid Man Utd fan. After graduating from university he combined his love of football, writing and betting to join FST and now closely follows goings-on in all of the top European leagues.
It’s that time of the year again. Almost every season, usually around February, whispers of a Manchester City quadruple start to emerge. Those whispers get louder and louder, building to a deafening crescendo as the Citizens edge closer to that unprecedented achievement.
And then they’re dumped out of the Champions League.
This season feels different though. This season it feels like the quadruple could actually happen. After all, it’s been a year full of previously unimaginable scenarios both in and out of the sporting world.
It would also be the final nail in the coffin needed for me, a Manchester United fan, to completely erase the entirety of 2020 and 2021 from my memories. Well, unless England win the Euros.
So let’s take a closer look at Pep Guardiola’s chances of achieving the impossible.
The Premier League
This one is a foregone conclusion. The biggest gimme in the quartet of trophies up for grabs.
Manchester City are 14 points clear of cross-city rivals Manchester United and, after a relatively slow start to the season, have won 18 of their last 19 Premier League matches.
It would take a collapse of epic proportions for Manchester City to lose the title. Next.
The Carabao Cup
Manchester City have usually lifted the Carabao Cup by this time of the season and returned the trophy to its rightful home in Manchester. Barring its annual trip to Wembley, the League Cup hasn’t left Manchester since 2015, with it calling the blue half of the city home for four of these five seasons.
Man City have won this trophy in five of the last seven seasons and the only team to beat them in this competition since January 2016 is Manchester United, while finalists Spurs haven’t won it since 2008, losing in the final twice since that triumph.
Jose Mourinho has won just seven of his 25 meetings with Pep Guardiola and a draw with Newcastle and defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Arsenal in the last few weeks have put the Portuguese manager under pressure again. City to win it.
The FA Cup
Remarkably Manchester City have only won the FA Cup twice since the oil money came aboard, but this season looks like the perfect opportunity to add a third success to the record books.
The semi-final against Chelsea on April 17th is the crunch match. You would fancy either of those sides over the winner of Southampton vs Leicester – the other two semi-finalists – and up until the weekend just gone you might have viewed this one as a coinflip.
But Thomas Tuchel’s honeymoon period came to an abrupt end as Chelsea lost 5-2. At home. To 19th placed West Brom.
Prior to that Chelsea had conceded just two goals in 14 games under Tuchel and neither of those had come at Stamford Bridge. They did have an early sending off to contend with, but it was a piteous showing from the Blues and it will be interesting to see how they respond.
If they come out fighting against Porto on Wednesday my opinion might change, but at the moment the FA Cup looks like Man City’s to lose.
The Champions League
The big one. The trophy that every player and fan of Manchester City craves above all others.
Manchester City have never even made it to the Champions League final. They’ve only played in one semi-final, for that matter, and have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage in each of the last three seasons.
On Tuesday they play the first leg of their latest quarter-final, heading into that match against an underperforming Borussia Dortmund side having won 26 of their last 27 matches. They breezed past fellow Germans Borussia Monchengladbach in the last 16 and few are expecting Haaland and company to trouble Guardiola’s side.
Up until recently our pick of the bunch were defending champions Bayern Munich, but news that talisman Robert Lewandowski will miss both legs of their quarter-final clash with PSG has dealt a big blow to their chances. If the Bavarians can make it past PSG without their star striker then they are still favourites in our eyes, but that’s a big if.
Manchester City’s other contenders include an injury hit Liverpool and Real Madrid, the aforementioned Chelsea side that shipped five at home to West Brom, a PSG outfit that are embroiled in a four-way battle for the Ligue 1 title and a Porto side who are, let’s be honest, not even in the same ballpark as the rest of these teams.
Who would have thought that Poland’s meeting with Andorra could have such an impact of Manchester City’s quest for a quadruple?
More betting news:
Tuesday’s Champions League bet builder tips
Win a personalised Champions League shirt of your choice
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