Manchester City’s 3-0 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday saw us extend our lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points and with a game in hand on the two teams directly below us.
Manchester United’s inability to beat West Bromwich Albion on Sunday means Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side are level on points with Leicester City in second place. A big lead domestically will allow us to rest stars ahead of key European ties.
The Champions League returns this week, though we’re not back in action until a trip to Hungary to face Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday 24 February.
Bookmakers have us as the joint-favourites to go all the way, just as we were heading into the new season. Our 3/1 odds are matched by defending champions Bayern Munich with sportsbook Betway.
The signing of Ruben Dias over the summer has helped strengthen our defence, which had been our weak point last season, whilst Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake have added additional depth to the squad.
Research from Betway below shows that the well-invested squads usually go the furthest in the competition, really since all the way back in 2004 when Jose Mourinho’s FC Porto beat AS Monaco in the final.
That puts us in good stead then, as we haven’t been afraid to open the chequebook in recent years. Rodri and Joao Cancelo were new additions last season who have proven to be very valuable this term.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich’s only major signing last summer was from us – the £54.8 million transfer of Leroy Sane. The German international scored two goals in only two Champions League starts during the group stage and has been involved in nine goals (4 goals, 5 assists) in 18 Bundesliga matches (9 starts) this term.
Hansi Flick’s side were dominant in progressing from their group even with Atletico Madrid and are starting to pull away from RB Leipzig at the top of their domestic league. Without doubt, the head coach has a wealth of talent at his disposal.
With our 15-game unbeaten streak and Bayern Munich being the team to beat, many would feel a Manchester City-Bayern Munich match would be the dream final for the 2020-21 Champions League.
Provided we progress past Gladbach in the Round of 16 and Bayern have no slip ups in their tie against Lazio, then we’d be within four matches of the final. With Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus in particular not hitting their heights of recent seasons I’d fancy our chances of going far this season. Liverpool are the third favourites and we recently thrashed them 4-1 at Anfield.
In fact, I’d go as far as saying I think this will be the season that we finally end our Champions League trophy drought. Friends over at Manchester City blog are of similar confidence following our recent run domestically.
Phil Foden could be our secret weapon in a tie versus Bayern Munich, whilst Kevin De Bruyne is back. Bayern’s defence hasn’t been as tight as previous campaigns either – just two clean sheets in their six group stage games.
We have goals all over the pitch, conceded just one goal in the group stage and have allowed just 14 goals in 23 Premier League matches so far this season. Provided we aren’t hit with any major injuries between now and May then maybe we’ll be the team to beat...