Expectations have never been so high around Manchester City,
having improved from their fifth place finish to come third last season and
with many expecting a title charge, a routine win against Swansea is expected.
City showed glimpses of what they were capable of in their
3-2 loss to United in the Community Shield when going 2-0 and while they didn’t
have a swagger to their play with United dominating early on while City lacked
much movement the fact they scored twice in just 10 munities shows their quality
and Swansea is a far easier task.
A fast start is at a premium for Mancini - the world's
richest club drew at Tottenham before losing at Sunderland in the opening three
games – and it’s likely that a heavy pre – season schedule in which they placed
Inter, United and went to the USA will be helpful.
Mancini's men are carrying the added pressure of expectation
at being genuine contenders but having finally ended their 35-year trophy
drought with the FA Cup last season, the club will now trust themselves to win
trophies.
Swansea are favourites to go down on the basis that they’ve
come up through the playoffs but teams who take that route to the Premier League
usually make a big impression – the likes of Hull and Blackpool are great
examples – and little more than a few points separates the new boys in the
League this year.
Brendan Rodgers' side have a reputation for playing good
football and will not be intimidated by the prospect of a trip to Manchester
but have lost their last five games on the opening day of the season, the
current longest such run of any side in the four tiers of English football
(courtesy of Opta) and surely will be lucky to get a point here.
Manchester City won all eight of their games against the
bottom eight at Eastlands last term and all of those were to nil, which makes
the 6/5 that Bet365 offer on a City win to nil an attractive price, with the
11/10 about the double result appealing but not a certainty if City are rusty
early on, and the correct score being hard to predict.
Advice
2 pts Manchester City to win to nil (6/5 Bet365)
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