Are Manchester City set for a record-breaking, unbeaten, goal-laden season? We take a look at their progress so far and the odds
Manchester City are into 30/1 from 50/1 to win the quadruple after they were drawn to face Bristol City in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
There seems to be no stopping Pep Guardiola's men, who are also 4/1 for an unbeaten Premier League season and 20/1 to match Manchester United's historic treble of lifting the domestic title, FA Cup and Champions League.
City won a record 16th straight Premier League game on Saturday as they thrashed Tottenham 4-1 and with an 11-point lead at the summit, few expect them to be caught.
They were cut to 50/1 for the quad after defeating Leicester on penalties to reach the semi-finals but when they were drawn against Manchester United's conquerors Bristol City, those odds were slashed again to 30/1.
They are now firm favourites to lift the League Cup and also head the betting in the Champions League - although in the FA Cup they are 11/2 behind 4/1 jollies Manchester United.
Here, we take a look at some of the other records Pep Guardiola's men are currently chasing - and the odds of them being achieved.
Unbeaten in the Premier League – 4/1 (Sky Bet)
Only two teams have ever gone through a top-flight English season unbeaten.
Preston did so in the very first season (when there were just 22 games) but it is Arsenal’s 38-game campaign of 2003/04, which City are looking to emulate.
Boss Pep Guardiola was asked about the possibility of equalling the feat last month but suggested it would not happen.
"We are not going to break it. It was an exceptional team (of Arsenal). To stay unbeaten in the Premier League is something fantastic. He has to know that we don’t want to break this record."
To set a new Premier League goals record – 8/15
Chelsea scored 103 times en route to the title in 2009/10 and City’s start has them well on course to break that record.
They have scored 56 goals in just 18 games so far - an average of more than three per game. Chelsea’s record averaged out at 2.71 per game.
Were City to keep going at their current rate, they would notch 118 goals.
Sky Bet offered 1000/1 at the start of the season that City would go unbeaten while scoring 100 or more goals. Their traders are beginning to sweat with the second part of this bet increasingly likely.
To set a new Premier League points record – 4/9
The biggest points haul ever claimed in a single Premier League season is 95, a tally Chelsea reached in their first season under Jose Mourinho – 2004/05.
Again, the averages suggest City are well on course. Chelsea averaged exactly 2.5 points per game that season. City are currently averaging 2.89 and would hit 110 points if they kept that up over 38 games.
To put that into context, the perfect Premier League season would be a 114-point haul. However, City have already been held to a draw by Everton this campaign so that is one feat they certainly won’t be achieving in 2017/18.
The price here has tumbled from 4/1 just six weeks ago to odds-on.
To win the Treble – 20/1
This is the stuff of legend – winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season.
Despite its undoubted difficulty, it is a feat that has been achieved before – by Manchester United in 1998/99. That Red Devils side has subsequently been labelled the best ever in some quarters.
City fans would love to see the blue half of Manchester match it 19 years on and with Guardiola’s men having made a flying start both at home and in Europe, the foundations have at least been laid for an assault on it.
Perhaps the biggest pitfall comes in the FA Cup where, unlike in the two other competitions, one bad performance can end the dream. City will host Burnley in their opening match in January.
Fatigue is another big hurdle to overcome. City would have to play a minimum of 62 matches this season were they to win the Treble (38 in the Premier League, 13 in the Champions League, six in the FA Cup and the five they are already guaranteed to play in the Carabao Cup).
A favourable Champions League draw - one which will see their two biggest rivals, Real Madrid and PSG, go head-to-head - saw their odds in this market cut from 28/1 to 18s, although they've been eased out slightly since.
To win the Quadruple – 30/1
The Treble super-sized by throwing in the Carabao Cup for good measure. It has never been completed in the history of English football (United lost to Spurs in the quarter-finals in 98/99).
Before the quarter-final trip to Leicester, City were 66/1 for this historic feat but after their youngsters edged past the Foxes on penalties following a 1-1 draw, those odds were cut to 50/1.
The following night, Manchester United were knocked out by Bristol City, who were subsequently drawn to play Guardiola's side in the last four, promoting Sky Bet to slash the quad odds to 30/1.
Of the club's chances of a four-trophy haul, Guardiola said: "That is not going to happen. Of course not. Come on, that isn't real. What we're living isn't real."
A 63-game season is guaranteed for any club looking to achieve this unprecedented feat.
Sky Bet report they face liabilities of close to £1million already on this market and they are expecting more stakes to come, as summed up by the slashing of their price from 125/1 to 66s following the aforementioned Champions League draw.
Not to win the Premier League – 12/1
A word of warning. City started each of the last two Premier League seasons in fine fashion, quickly going heavily odds-on for the title before blowing up pretty spectacularly – in neither season did they manage to finish in the top two.
In 2015/16, they did at least win the League Cup; last season they ended up with nothing.
Could it happen again? It isn’t looking likely right now but football, as they say, is a funny old game.
This is an updated version of a story first published on November 7. Odds correct as of 2300 GMT on 19/12/17.
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