Premier League Team Guides: Manchester City
Sports Journalist at FST, Gareth qualified as a journalist after graduating from university and spent over a decade as a freelance broadcast journalist, commentator and tipster before joining FST. Now living in Manchester, he is a long suffering Bolton Wanderers fan who also enjoys boxing, the NBA, tennis and rugby league.
This article is part of our team-by-team guide to the 2025/26 Premier League season.
Team overview
- League Position: 3rd
- Champions League: Knockout phase play-offs
- FA Cup: Runners-up
- EFL Cup: Fourth round
- Top scorer: Erling Haaland (31)
Season review
Manchester City began the season by overcoming local rivals Manchester United on penalties in the Community Shield but that proved to be their only piece of silverware for the campaign, unless they triumph in the summer Club World Cup tournament.
After reigning supreme for the last couple of years, last season proved to be a difficult and disappointing one for City. They went into the campaign seeking a record-extending fifth consecutive league crown and they did make a solid start – winning seven of their opening nine games before a dramatic dip in form that began with a defeat to Tottenham in the EFL Cup.
City endured a woeful run of just one win in 13 games across all competitions. For a brief period it seemed as if they may even miss out on a place in next season’s Champions League but six wins in their final seven games of the season ensured they ended up in third spot.
Pep Guardiola’s men also struggled in Europe as they finished in 22nd place in the league phase of the Champions League, then lost to Real Madrid in the play-off round.
The FA Cup final offered a chance of redemption to a degree but City were upset by Crystal Palace at Wembley as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat.
Key stat: Manchester City suffered five consecutive defeats during the season for their worst run since the 2005/06 season, and the worst run in the entirety of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career.
Transfer window preview
Man City have already been active in the transfer market with four new arrivals.
Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan for an initial fee of £46.5million and rising star Rayan Cherki has been snapped up from Lyon.
City have bolstered their defence by signing Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves and Marcus Bettinelli has joined the club as a back-up keeper.
2024 Ballon d’Or winner Rodri missed almost the entirety of last season and his return to the fold will feel like a new signing for City next term.
Talisman Kevin De Bruyne has now left the club after his contract came to an end and it seems almost certain that Jack Grealish will depart after struggling for game time last term, and there will probably be further exits as City look to revamp their squad ahead of the new season.
Outright odds: 9/4
Top 4 odds: 1/5
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