Can Manchester City win the Premier League, League Cup and Champions League
Manchester City’s dreams of a quadruple were crushed by League One side Wigan Athletic on Monday night.
Will Grigg’s second-half strike was the difference between the two sides as the Latics replicated their 2013 Cup heroics where they beat City in the final.
Wigan join Liverpool and Shakhtar Donetsk as the only teams who have gotten the better of Pep Guardiola’s men this season.
With the Premier League all but secure and the Carabao Cup final at Wembley next up for City, Tom Carnduff looks at what they can still achieve in the remainder of the current campaign.
It should have been a formality for City when they visited the DW Stadium on Monday, with 45 places separating the two teams going into the clash.
With 83% of the possession, the commentary angle of the visitors waiting for a lapse of concentration from Paul Cook’s side backfired slightly, as Kyle Walker allowed the ball to run through to Grigg moments before the goal.
Quadruple success for City could have been backed at 14/1 with Sky Bet before kick-off.
As they're out of the FA Cup, it adds more importance to the League Cup on Sunday but, much like the game against Wigan, Guardiola can expect difficulty against Arsenal at Wembley.
Wembley is Arsenal’s stage. The Gunners have won nine games in a row in cup competitions at the national stadium, beating City twice in that run.
One cup is gone, and Arsene Wenger’s side are more than capable of stopping Guardiola getting his hands on the other.
Whilst the FA Cup was often viewed as Arsenal's competition in recent years, they'll be eager to secure their first League Cup in 25 years.
Arsenal are 4/1 to win the League Cup final in 90 minutes against Manchester City on Sunday.
Just like that, a side that were fancied to glide to quadruple success could see two of those trophies disappear in the space of seven days.
The Premier League is secure for City, with odds of 1/1000 highlighting their dominance in England’s top competition with 11 games still to play.
That leaves the Champions League which, given the Premier League situation, should be the main focus for the Manchester side.
They already have one foot in the draw for the next round after dominating Basel 4-0 away from home in the first leg.
Paris Saint-Germain’s tie with Real Madrid guarantees one of City’s main European rivals will fall at the first knockout hurdle, with Chelsea’s clash with Barcelona eliminating another.
City remain the 11/4 favourites for Champions League glory, but history shows they have struggled to hit the heights on the European stage.
They were knocked out on away goals by AS Monaco last season following a remarkable 6-6 draw on aggregate between the two sides.
Manchester City have been a regular feature in the Champions League since 2011, securing a spot in Europe’s top competition for seven consecutive seasons.
Despite the talent and Premier League glory, they have only managed to make it past the last 16 stage on one occasion, eventually being knocked out by Real Madrid in the semi-finals in 2016.
They should be in the quarter-final draw this time round, but they could be condemned to another early exit if they are paired with a fellow European giant.
Whilst it could have been history in the making for Pep Guardiola, history could prevent City from a further two trophies.
They reacted well to their defeat to Liverpool in January with a 3-1 victory over Newcastle the following week, with the loss against Shakhtar being met with a win over rivals Manchester United just days later.
Manchester City are 9/2 to win the Premier League, League Cup & Champions League this season.
This is a different scenario for City though. A cup final at Wembley could be the perfect catalyst to help get them back on track but equally, it could deny City their first ever treble and impact the possibility of securing the third double in the club’s history.
With their domestic dominance in the Premier League, it would be fair to say that failure to secure at least two trophies this season would be nothing short of disastrous for Pep Guardiola’s side.
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