Champions League no guarantee for Man City and Pep
Published:
Pep Guardiola could be taking over at Manchester City this summer without the prospect of Champions League football, following the Citizens’ defeat to rivals Manchester United.
Marcus Rashford’s goal ensured City have now won just one of their last six league games, and it’s 8/5 the Blue half of Manchester doesn’t qualify for Champions League football next term.
With United and West Ham hot on their heels for fourth place, it’s 11/8 City fail to finish in the leading quartet, something which hasn’t happened since 2010.
With rumours circulating as to the cause of City’s recent woes, it’s 9/2 that outgoing boss Manuel Pellegrini quits the club before the final game of the campaign.
None of this looks set to change Guardiola’s plans however, with 50/1 offered for City to fail to land a top four spot and Pep not to take over at the Etihad this summer.
City of course are still in this season’s Champions League, but despite making the quarter-finals for the first time, outright odds of 16/1 suggest they are unlikely be lifting the famous trophy in May.
But the Bayern Munich boss will certainly be casting a concerned eye over his future club’s results in the coming weeks, with City in fourth place by just one point.
A failure to beat teams in the top half of the table has seen City drop a hatful of points, but against bottom half sides the Sky Blues have been scintillating.
That bodes well then for their first match after the upcoming international break, when they head to all-but-safe Bournemouth.
With both West Ham and Man United facing home ties to bottom half opposition on the same weekend, City will be feeling the pressure knowing that any dropped points on the south coast could see them fall out of the top four.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
