After a record-breaking 2017-18 campaign, many are already tipping Man City to win the Premier League for a second consecutive season. The Citizens conquered England in emphatic style last time around and showed off their power against Chelsea in their Community Shield victory ahead of the opening round.
However, some stats suggest that Guardiola’s men won’t begin their title defense with a win. They take on Arsenal, a team that they beat both home and away and in the League Cup final, in their first tie but might not continue their winning streak.
In the last two seasons, the defending Premier League champions lost their opening games, a worrying trend which Man City will be keen not to follow. Last season, it was Chelsea that began their campaign with a defeat, losing 2-3 to Burnley at home.
The season before that, Leicester began the top-flight campaign as the champion but lost 2-1 to the then newly-promoted Hull City. Those, however, are not the only worrying figures.
Furthermore, a defending champion hasn’t won their opening game in any of the last three seasons, as Chelsea drew with Swansea 2-2 in the opening round of the 2015/16 campaign after winning the title in the previous term. In Man City’s defense, they were the last defending champion to begin the following season with a victory but there are more reasons to be worried.
While Guardiola’s side has shown promise during the preseason, they have been without a number of their star men due to the World Cup. Sane has traveled with the first-team as he did not participate in Russia 2018; however, both De Bruyne and Sterling only returned on Tuesday.
Arsenal, on the other hand, had the majority of their star names for the tour in Singapore and the subsequent friendlies. Unai Emery’s first-team has an edge over Man City in fitness and will thus be gunning to beat them come Sunday.
