The times they are a-changin' at the Etihad, with legendary manager Pep Guardiola calling time on a trophy-laden decade with the club. Under the Spaniard, Manchester City have been the dominant force in English football, winning the Premier League title six times in ten seasons and 17 domestic trophies in total.
Enzo Maresca takes over, with the club having finished 13 and 7 points behind the last two champions, Liverpool and Arsenal, respectively. The Italian had work to do to bring the Cityzens back to the very top, and the latest Man City odds show the bookies always felt they would be firmly in the conversation.
Besides those odds on Man City to win the league, there are plenty of other ways you can back them over the course of the campaign, and we'll explore some of those in this article.
ð Odds on Man City to win the league
Here is the lie of the Premier League land according to the bookies:
- Arsenal - 8/11 with Sky Bet
- Man City - 9/4 with BOYLE Sports
- Chelsea - 4/1 with Betfred
- Liverpool - 28/1 with BetMGM
- Man United - 50/1 with Paddy Power
- Aston Villa - 125/1 with William Hill
*Odds correct at time of writing, and are subject to change.
Defending champions Arsenal are the favourites to defend their title, which they were unable to do on the three previous occasions they won it. The margin is very slight, however.
City were, at one point, threatening to pip them to the crown once again last season, just as they did in 2023 and 2024. The momentum appeared to be with Guardiola's side after Erling Haaland netted the winner in their summit meeting in mid-April. Dropped points at Everton and Bournemouth later that month, however, handed the advantage back to The Gunners, who held their nerve to secure a first title in 22 years.
City's response, inevitably, was to spend. Elliot Anderson arrived from Nottingham Forest for ã116 million, and the club record went again before the window shut when Enzo Fernández joined from Chelsea for ã125 million. Arsenal have been busy too, with Newcastle's Bruno Guimarães moving to North London.
Both squads are looking strong, and both can now boast title-winning know-how. They are, once again, the main two going the distance, and both have won each of their opening four. Liverpool, Chelsea and, to a lesser extent, Manchester United are all in a period of transition having also appointed new managers.
ð How Man City can reclaim the Premier League crown
City winning a Premier League title, or indeed any trophy, will never be an outlandish thought given how much they've won in recent years and the sheer amount of investment ploughed into them. Here are some of the reasons to believe in them.
ð¨âÂÂð¼ Man CityâÂÂs current squad and manager
When you've got Erling Haaland who, in his worst season in England, still scored 22 Premier League goals, you've always got a chance. His supporting cast, however, has changed somewhat in the past couple of seasons.
Jeremy Doku found a rich vein of goalscoring and goal-creating form at the end of the season, while Antoine Semenyo arrived from Bournemouth in January and took to life in Manchester quickly, crossing for Haaland's opener at Palace.
One player City relied on more than most was anchoring midfielder Rodri, who missed almost the entire 2024/25 season with a cruciate ligament tear and whose absence triggered a remarkable collapse. He missed several games last season too, with knee and hamstring problems, before winning the Golden Ball as Spain took the World Cup.
He has now gone to Barcelona, which is the single biggest question hanging over Maresca's first season. City spent ã125 million on Enzo Fernández and ã86 million on Ayyoub Bouaddi to make sure the same collapse cannot happen twice.
There is plenty for Maresca to work with. The Italian was Guardiola's assistant during the 2022/23 treble-winning season, and had his eye on this job for some time, which more than likely led to his explosive exit from Chelsea last season. After that success working with Pep, Maresca led Leicester to the Championship title in 2024, before moving to Stamford Bridge.
Fans of those two clubs, however, haven't always been satisfied with the style of play on show. Here he is working with players he already knows, and he has since signed Enzo Fernández from his former club. Four wins from four says the transition has gone as smoothly as anyone could have asked.
ð¤ Transfer activity - ins and outs
| Net transfer spend | ã137.8m |
City ended up spending heavily in midfield, with Enzo Fernández, Anderson and the 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi arriving for a combined ã327 million. Fernández has been the pick of them, stepping in against Coventry when Nico O'Reilly pulled up in the warm-up and setting up the winner. Bouaddi has been eased in off the bench.
French winger Mathys Detourbet was signed from Troyes and immediately loaned back to Monaco, while 17-year-old Jeremy Monga is one for the future and will likely go out on loan before getting serious game time at the Etihad.
In terms of outgoings, not only did City say goodbye to their legendary manager, but they also let go of the man who scored the goal that won them the Champions League in 2023. Rodri joined Barcelona for ã65.4 million.
The Spanish midfielder won the Golden Ball at the World Cup as he led his nation to glory, and even with City's embarrassment of riches, they have found it impossible to replace him when he's been out injured in recent seasons.
Two fellow Pep-era stalwarts have also departed. Centre back John Stones arrived during the same summer as Guardiola, while Bernardo Silva joined the year after.
Stones had fallen down the pecking order at centre back, behind Rúben Dias, Joà ¡ko Gvardiol and, more recently, England teammate Marc Guéhi. Silva, meanwhile, had reportedly decided to let his contract run down a couple of years ago.
ðÂÂÂ︠Key fixtures in the 2026/27 season
City opened against the side who ended their hopes of reclaiming the title a few months earlier, needing two goals in the last six minutes to beat Bournemouth 2-1. They followed it with a 4-1 win at Crystal Palace, Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki both scoring twice, then edged Coventry 1-0 at the Etihad through Haaland's 300th goal in club football.
The first Manchester derby produced the statement of the four. City won 1-0 at Old Trafford despite playing 67 minutes with ten men after Phil Foden's red card, Haaland settling it on the hour with his ninth goal in the fixture. Maresca refused to shut up shop at any point, which told you plenty about his approach.
They head to Anfield just after the extended international break, one place where even Guardiola rarely tasted success.
The games against Arsenal, however, are what fans of both sides will be circling in bright highlighter pen. They meet at the Emirates in late November and at the Etihad in late January in an unusually early return fixture.
Should the title race go the distance, City finish the season hosting Aston Villa and then going on the road to Sunderland with games against Liverpool and at Chelsea just before those.
Man City odds in other outright markets
Even if Man City donâÂÂt end what is a Premier League title drought (by their standards), there are other ways that our favourite football betting sites are enabling you to back the Cityzens in outright bets this coming season.
â½ Erling Haaland to win the Golden Boot
City's Norwegian goal machine is the odds-on favourite to top-score the Premier League once again, and he is already up and running with two goals at Selhurst Park. New customers at Coral can bag boosted odds of 50/1 on Haaland to win the Golden Boot, paid in free bets if it lands.
ðÂ¥ Man City trophy multiples
In ten seasons under Pep Guardiola, City went trophyless in just two of them. Last season, they won both domestic cups. That same bet right now yields odds of 33/1.
At certain bookmakers, you can back Maresca to win any combination of the available trophies in his first season in charge, or simply "to win a trophy", meaning any one trophy, or none at all.
While Arsenal are rightly favourites for the Premier League, and there are a handful of clubs looking a stronger bet for the Champions League, City are certainly hard to eliminate in one-off cup ties.
The League Cup and FA Cup double is the one I would take. The League Cup final is in March, and the FA Cup fifth round will have been played a fortnight earlier, so a side still alive in both by then would have the bet on course and a healthy cash out available long before Wembley.
â½ Back Man City to win both the League Cup and FA Cup at 33/1 with bet365 â½
â Man City to go unbeaten
Only one side has gone a full Premier League season without defeat, Arsenal's Invincibles of 2003/04, which tells you exactly how hard this is and why 28/1 is available on a side who have won their opening four.
City have the profile for it. They have already come through the two fixtures most likely to end it, winning at Old Trafford with ten men for 67 minutes after Phil Foden's red card, and Maresca's side have conceded three goals in four games. Guardiola's teams twice went beyond 20 league games unbeaten in a single campaign without lasting the distance.
The bet dies the moment it dies, which is both the appeal and the problem. What it does give you is a live position through the autumn at a price that will shorten with every week City stay perfect, and a trip to Anfield after the international break is the first real test of whether it survives that long.
â½ Back Man City to go unbeaten in the Premier League at 28/1 with bet365 â½
ðÂ¥ Top North West club
Irrespective of the title race, you can back City in a North West-only race with cross-town rivals Manchester United and Liverpool.
There is of course a chance that Andoni Iraola gets Liverpool firing, much like his predecessor Arne Slot did, and United enjoyed an excellent second half of last season under Michael Carrick.
Both have started slowly, though. Liverpool needed until the third weekend for a first win under Iraola and have six points from four, while United have four from four after defeat at Hull and another in the derby. City have won the lot. This is not a formality, but it has begun exactly the way City would have wanted.
â½ Bet on Man City to finish ahead of their North West rivals at 11/8 with Betway â½
ð¤ FAQs about Man City ahead of the 2026/27 season
1. Who are Man CityâÂÂs key players as they aim to reclaim the Premier League title?
While Man City have always had a star-studded, expensively assembled squad ever since Sheikh Mansour took over in 2008, it would be fair to say that City's quest for trophies in this, or any, season relies on the form and fitness of Erling Haaland up top. No player could possibly replace everything he brings to the team.
Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernández are the two now needed to fill a Rodri-shaped hole in midfield, and Fernández has made the quicker start of the pair.
2. Who are likely to be Man CityâÂÂs main rivals for the Premier League and other domestic competitions?
City are locked in a title fight with Arsenal once again, with both sides having won each of their opening four. Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea could also come into contention, though all three have already dropped points that the top two have not.
The so-called "big six" are always expected to go deep in the domestic cups too, but we have also recently seen Newcastle and Crystal Palace win those.
3. When are the best times to lock in the best odds for Man City in the markets mentioned in this article?
City are joint-top of the table and have shortened from 3/1 to 9/4, so the best of the pre-season value has gone. The cup markets are the ones with room left in them, because those prices will not move much until the later rounds. If you are waiting on the title market, you are now betting on a stumble rather than a slow start.
ð Read more about the Premier League during the 2026/27 season
- Premier League winner odds
- Premier League top 4 odds
- Premier League relegation odds
- Premier League referees
- Golden Boot odds
Nathan Hill
Nathan Hill is an experienced sports writer who obsessively follows football - both the round ball and American kind - as well as range of other sports including F1, basketball, darts and snooker.
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