Man City have work to do to fulfil Champions League dreams

Roberto Mancini may feel that Manchester City are deserving of a top-four finish in the Premier League this season, but many more performances of the kind that saw them meekly lose 3-0 to Liverpool may see them surrender this position.

Mancini manfully took the blame for the defeat at Anfield, which has left them nervously looking over their shoulder in fourth spot, as Tottenham can move level on points with them if they win their game in hand.

Manchester City are 1/3 in the Premier League odds to finish in the Champions League places and it appears to be a two-team race between them and Spurs for the second season in succession for the final spot.

Spurs nabbed fourth place last year to leave Manchester City having to settle for Europa League football after winning at Eastlands late in the campaign thanks to Peter Crouch’s late goal.

And it appears that the same fixture could prove vitally important again, with the fixture set to take place on May 10th.

Spurs’ betting odds are 7/4 to finish in the top four, but they arguably have the tougher run-in, as not only do they face Manchester City away, but they also still need to travel to Chelsea and Liverpool.

But Manchester City will still need to take advantage of their easier fixtures and given the way they struggled to retain the ball against Liverpool and the lack of effort of some of their players, there is still work to do.

Mancini previously said that because Manchester City had been in title contention with Manchester United and Arsenal for the majority of the season that this justified their place in the Champions League places.

However, Mancini best remind his players that a season runs over 38 games and that the Europa League represents the future again unless they get the desired results in their closing six fixtures.

A £30 stake on the Liverpool making a late surge into the top four and making up eight points would return £360. New customers can sign up here for a free £30 bet.